Dele Momodu Says Nigeria Is Now Ruled by Civilian Dictators
Dele Momodu, a former presidential aspirant and senior member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has raised serious concerns about Nigeria’s political direction. Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, Momodu said that Nigeria’s democracy is at risk and that the country is slowly being ruled by civilian dictators.
As Nigeria prepares to celebrate Democracy Day on June 12, Momodu said there is little to celebrate. He believes the current leaders are no longer serving the people and are ruling with force and disregard for public opinion.
According to him, “Nigeria is now back to civilian dictatorship. Our leaders no longer care about how people feel. Nigerians are hungry, and those in power are ignoring them.”
He went further to say that those who fought and died during the June 12 democratic struggle would be very disappointed if they were alive today. “They would be crying if they saw the way this democracy is being damaged,” he said.
Momodu also blamed government officials at all levels—executive, legislature, and local government—for failing the country. He accused them of being bold and shameless in how they treat ordinary Nigerians.
He turned his focus to the PDP crisis and pointed fingers at Nyesom Wike, the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Momodu said Wike is behind the confusion in the party and is acting like a dictator. “Wike is behaving like the owner of the party, even deciding who should get the presidential ticket in 2027,” he said.
Momodu also accused Wike of causing the political crisis in Rivers State, which led to a state of emergency. “This is the first time in Nigeria that one man has caused such a huge crisis. Wike doesn’t want to step back quietly,” he said.
He added that Wike is staging a political “coup” within the PDP by trying to control the party’s direction, even though it was the PDP that made him what he is today. “He has no moral right to do that,” Momodu said.
The PDP chieftain also reacted to President Bola Tinubu’s recent comments, where Tinubu called some Nigerians “busybodies” and “bystanders.” Momodu said this kind of language is unacceptable. “No Nigerian is a bystander in his own country,” he argued.
He claimed that Wike seems to be getting special treatment, even as he celebrated the reopening of the Abuja International Conference Centre, which reportedly cost over ₦30 billion. “It now feels like Nigeria has two presidents,” Momodu said.
Despite his frustrations with the PDP, Momodu made it clear that he would never join the APC. He said he could not be part of a system where one man controls everything. “If I were in the APC, I’d be defending all these actions, but I can’t support that kind of leadership,” he stated.
Momodu warned that unless Nigeria fixes its political system, it could slide into full autocracy. “We are going backwards, and people like Wike are part of the problem,” he concluded.
