Human Rights Foundation has labelled Nigeria as ‘fully authoritarian’ citing 2023 election and weak institutions.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has classified Nigeria as a fully authoritarian regime in its latest global assessment, citing concerns over the country’s electoral process, suppression of dissent, and weakening institutional checks on executive power.
The assessment, published on the foundation’s Tyranny Tracker platform, placed Nigeria in the fully authoritarian category after evaluating countries based on three key indicators: electoral competition, freedom of dissent, and institutional accountability. According to the report, Nigeria performed poorly across all three metrics.
“HRF classifies Nigeria as ruled by a fully authoritarian regime. Nigeria is a federal republic of 36 states with a presidential system of government,” the report stated.
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The foundation noted that despite more than two decades of uninterrupted civilian rule since 1999, Nigeria’s democratic institutions have continued to weaken.
It highlighted the country’s historical challenges, including decades of military rule, civil war, coups, and insurgencies, while acknowledging that Nigeria has held seven consecutive democratic elections since returning to civilian governance.
“Since transitioning from military rule in 1999, Nigeria has experienced the longest period of elected civilian rule in its history, with seven consecutive elections and a peaceful transfer of power between a ruling and opposition party in 2015,” the report said.
HRF Raises Concerns Over Executive Power
The report alleged that successive governments have concentrated power within the executive arm, weakening the legislature and judiciary.
“Successive governments have consolidated control over all branches of government. With no meaningful checks to executive power, and an endemic culture of corruption, clientelism, and impunity, the country remains mired in a degenerating, multidimensional insecurity and maladministration crisis,” it stated.
HRF also criticised the conduct of the 2023 presidential election, describing it as flawed and pointing to legal disputes, protests, election-related violence, alleged irregularities, voter disenfranchisement, and concerns over the integrity of the electoral process.
“The Head of State, Bola Tinubu, was declared the winner of the flawed 2023 election. Legal challenges, protests, and calls for annulment, violence that killed more than 100 people, the disenfranchisement of over one million people, and evidence of irregularities and manipulation discredited the integrity of the polls,” the report said.
Allegations of Electoral and Democratic Weaknesses
Under its electoral competition assessment, the foundation claimed that opposition parties faced significant obstacles during election campaigns, including restrictions on rallies, limited access to public facilities and state-owned media, excessive administrative charges, and interference by security agencies.
The report also referenced attacks on opposition supporters by political thugs and vigilante groups during the build-up to the 2023 elections, alongside concerns over delayed transmission of election results and the voter register.
HRF further questioned the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), alleging that successive administrations had weakened the electoral body through politically controversial appointments and executive influence over its funding.
Report Alleges Restrictions on Free Expression
The foundation claimed that journalists, civil society groups, opposition politicians, labour leaders, activists, and citizens have increasingly faced intimidation, arrests, prosecutions, and censorship for criticising government policies.
Among the incidents cited were the arrest of journalists during the August 2024 nationwide protests, prosecutions under Nigeria’s Cybercrimes Act, actions against labour leaders, and sanctions imposed on individuals over social media posts critical of government officials.
The report also referenced the suppression of the #EndBadGovernance protests, alleging excessive use of force by security agencies and mass arrests of demonstrators.
Additionally, it cited restrictions by the National Broadcasting Commission on the broadcast of Eedris Abdulkareem’s protest song, Tell Your Papa, as an example of censorship.
Judiciary, Legislature Also Criticised
HRF argued that Nigeria’s institutions no longer serve as effective checks on executive authority.
It criticised the judiciary over delays and dismissals of election petitions and challenges to executive actions, while also alleging continued non-compliance with judgments delivered by the ECOWAS Court of Justice.
The report further questioned legislative oversight, citing the National Assembly’s approval of the March 2025 Rivers State emergency rule through a voice vote, which critics argued did not meet constitutional requirements.
It also alleged that security officials accused of human rights violations have largely avoided prosecution, reinforcing what it described as a culture of impunity.
While acknowledging Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999 after decades of military governance, the Human Rights Foundation maintained that executive dominance, corruption, patronage politics, and insecurity have steadily weakened the country’s democratic institutions.
The report noted that the Nigerian government has previously rejected international criticisms of its human rights record and management of elections.
