Timi Frank, a former deputy national publicity secretary for the All Progressives Congress (APC), has asked the US to put visa restrictions, economic sanctions, and asset freezes on important members of the Nigerian federal government.
Frank said in a statement on Friday that the current government was using state institutions to weaken opposition parties before the next election.
He said that President Bola Tinubu’s government was trying to make sure that no political party puts up a candidate who is strong enough to beat him.
He said, “The goal and aim are to make sure that no political party puts up a candidate who is strong enough to run against the president.”
He said that these kinds of actions could lead to a crisis in the country if they weren’t dealt with right away.
Frank said that institutions like the courts and the legislature were being used to stop opposition groups. He said that democracy should be a contest of ideas, not what he called a “monarchical system.”
He asked the US, the UN, and other world leaders to step in before things get worse.
He said, “The international community must not wait until Nigeria is in crisis or war to act.” He also said that any instability in Nigeria, which has a population of more than 200 million people, could lead to a huge refugee crisis in other regions.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) took the David Mark-led African Democratic Congress leadership off of its list last week.
The opposition party said that INEC’s actions were the fault of President Tinubu’s government.
But INEC made it clear that it had not recognized the party because of court cases that were still going on.
