The United Kingdom High Commission has met with the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by the party’s National Chairman, Kabiru Turaki (SAN), to discuss the state of Nigeria’s democracy, the role of the opposition and the country’s political climate.
The meeting, held on Thursday, formed part of a series of engagements between the PDP and members of the international community following President Bola Tinubu’s “all is fair in politics” comment and what the party described as the weaponisation of state institutions against opposition political parties.
According to a statement issued by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the meeting featured extensive deliberations on the condition of Nigeria’s democracy, the challenges confronting opposition politics and the prospects for future elections.
Ememobong said discussions also centred on what the party described as the “asphyxiation of the opposition,” the prolonged leadership crisis within the PDP, which it alleged was state-sponsored, the potential candidature of former President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2027 presidential election and the general outlook for the 2026 elections.
In his presentation, the PDP National Chairman, Kabiru Turaki (SAN), reiterated the party’s position on the need to preserve Nigeria’s multi-party democracy, stressing that a vibrant opposition remains a critical pillar of any democratic system.
He also accused the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government of pursuing what he described as a “state capture” agenda, which he said had contributed to rising political tension across the country.
According to Turaki, “the political temperature of the country has risen to fever-pitch levels traceable majorly to the actions and inactions of the APC-led Federal Government, who are relentlessly provocative in their desire to forcefully capture every part of our country.”
Responding on behalf of the delegation, the UK High Commission’s Team Leader, Dr. Fortune Aldred, thanked the PDP leadership for the engagement and assured them that the issues raised during the meeting would be conveyed through the Commission’s established diplomatic reporting channels.
He noted that although Nigeria is a sovereign nation and its political affairs remain an internal matter, the High Commission has a responsibility to monitor political developments and communicate its observations through appropriate diplomatic channels.
The UK High Commission delegation was led by Dr. Fortune Aldred, Senior Political Adviser, and Stephen Asek, Political Adviser (Cameroon).
The PDP delegation included the National Secretary, Dr. Wonyengikuro Daniel; National Treasurer, Isa Abubakar; National Organising Secretary, Hon. Theophilus Dakas Shan; National Legal Adviser, Shafi Bara’u; Principal Private Secretary to the National Chairman, Ibrahim Abdullahi, Esq.; and the National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong.
