A former presidential aspirant and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, Dele Momodu, has said that Nigeria’s current President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would not have become the country’s leader without the support of the late former President, Muhammadu Buhari.
Momodu also accused the president of trying to weaken opposition politics in Nigeria, warning that democracy cannot thrive without strong political competition.
He made the remarks on Sunday during an interview on the political programme Sunday Politics aired on Channels Television.
During the programme, Momodu said Nigeria’s democracy needs strong opposition voices that can challenge the government and present alternative ideas to voters.
According to Momodu, Buhari played a major role in Tinubu’s emergence as president after the 2023 general election.
“Look, Buhari handed over to Tinubu, but for Buhari it would have been impossible for Tinubu to be president today,” Momodu said during the interview.
Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election was one of the most closely contested in recent years. Tinubu, who contested under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
He defeated several major candidates, including Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
Tinubu was sworn in as Nigeria’s president on May 29, 2023, after Buhari completed two terms in office.
Momodu, who has been active in Nigerian politics for many years, said he believes the country’s democracy requires strong opposition parties to function properly.
He warned that when a ruling party dominates the political system without effective opposition, it can weaken democratic institutions.
“If I’m with Atiku, it shows you it is people who have genuine interest in the country,” Momodu said.
He added that opposition politics is an important part of democracy because it gives citizens choices and encourages accountability in government.
“I believe there must be opposition politics. There must be opposition candidates,” he said.
According to him, democracy becomes unhealthy when political leaders attempt to reduce competition.
Momodu accused Tinubu of trying to create a situation where there would be little or no political challenge to his leadership.
“Tinubu wants to contest against himself and it doesn’t make sense to me,” he said.
Momodu also spoke about the influence political leaders can have when they control strong political structures and financial resources.
He pointed to Lagos State, where Tinubu served as governor from 1999 to 2007 and remains widely seen as a powerful political figure.
“You can imagine how much Tinubu can generate from Lagos State alone, not to talk of national,” he said.
Lagos is Nigeria’s commercial centre and the state with the largest internally generated revenue. Over the years, the state has developed a strong tax system that provides large funding for government activities.
Tinubu’s political network in Lagos and other parts of the country has played a major role in his rise within Nigerian politics.
During the interview, Momodu also criticized what he described as misleading information about the country’s progress.
He accused supporters of the government of presenting “fake statistics” to defend government policies.
“You can see all these rabble-rousing they are doing up and down, giving you fake statistics,” he said.
However, Momodu did not provide specific examples of the statistics he was referring to during the program.
Momodu is widely known as a journalist, publisher, and politician.
He is the founder of the popular lifestyle magazine Ovation International, which has been published for several decades and is known for covering African leaders, celebrities, and major events.
Over the years, he has also been active in Nigerian politics, contesting for political offices and participating in public debates about governance.
In the past, he was involved with the Peoples Democratic Party and contested in the party’s presidential primaries.
More recently, he has been associated with the African Democratic Congress, a smaller political party that has been trying to expand its presence across the country.
Nigeria operates a multi-party democratic system, where several political parties compete in elections at national, state, and local government levels.
Since the country returned to civilian rule in 1999, power has mainly alternated between two major political parties: the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress.
However, smaller parties such as the Labour Party and the African Democratic Congress have recently gained attention, especially during the 2023 general election.
Momodu’s comments have added to the ongoing political debate about the state of democracy in Nigeria.
Supporters of the government argue that the current administration was elected through a democratic process and continues to implement policies aimed at improving the country’s economy and infrastructure.
Critics, however, say Nigeria’s democracy must continue to strengthen its institutions, encourage open political competition and protect the role of opposition parties.
