Nigeria is sliding towards authoritarian rule – NLC

The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, on Monday, warned that Nigeria is sliding dangerously towards authoritarian rule, as the country’s democratic space continues to shrink and workers’ rights come under sustained assault.

President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, who made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 21st Rain School of the NLC, held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, stated that Nigeria was on the brink of tyranny.

Daily Trust reports that this year’s Rain School was themed, “Labour and Human Rights in a Shrinking Democratic Space.”

Speaking before the event began fully, Ajaero described Nigeria as a democratic space, where citizens, especially the working class, face an assault on their rights to free speech, assembly, and participation in governance.

According to him, the ongoing clampdown on civic freedoms and union activities is a calculated effort to silence the voices of Nigerian workers ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He claimed that the federal government and state governors were systematically crushing dissent, weakening democratic institutions and unlawfully seizing workers’ contributions, which it described as stealing workers’ sweat.

Efforts to get reactions of the Presidency to the development were not successful as the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga and the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala could not be reached on phone.

The duo was yet to react to text and WhatsApp messages sent to their numbers as at the time of filing this report.

Also, the Director General of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Lateef Shittu, neither answered call put across to his phone nor responded to a text message sent for a response to the allegations against the governors.

Speaking further, the labour leader said, “It is clear that governance has been abandoned for 2027 politicking. We are all on our own. Leaders who should be working to alleviate suffering are instead consumed by power games – leaving workers and ordinary Nigerians to bear the brunt of economic hardship and burgeoning insecurity, all results of their own policies.

“In a healthy democracy, this would be politically suicidal—because robust engagement would hold such leaders accountable.”

Ajaero added that this year is a time when the socio-economic framework is riddled with suspicion, saying that governance continues to produce negative results for the citizenry.

“We are gathered at a time when Nigeria is ranked as one of the ten worst countries in the world for workers’ rights violations.

“There is always an inverse relationship between the abuse of human and workers’ rights and the state of a nation’s democratic space. As the democratic space expands, abuse of human and workers’ rights contracts—but as the democratic space shrinks, abuse of rights expands.

“Should we be concerned about the democratic space as workers and trade unionists? Yes, we should. A shrinking democratic space is a threat to workers, to the masses, and to our nation,” he said.

The labour leader also berated Edo State governor, Monday Okpebholo, for his comment against the presidential candidate of Labour Party in the last 2023 elections, Peter Obi.

Ajaero also recalled how the NLC in Edo State was allegedly factionalised by the governor in order to have loyal members of the congress on his side.

He said, “The threats against Mr. Obi and his supporters are a stark reminder of how quickly democratic safeguards are being eroded in our nation—with grave consequences for workers. We are not surprised by the undemocratic utterances of the Edo State Governor, Senator Okpebholo.

“If he can invade the NLC Secretariat and attempt to create a parallel NLC structure in the state, despite all entreaties, then he is capable of threatening any Nigerian citizen without a second thought.

“This is, to us, a product of ignorance about democratic tenets—and a morbid fear of the same democratic process that brought him to power. The ability to organise—whether through unions, civil society, or political parties—is the bedrock of a functioning democracy.

“When governors unilaterally decide who can speak, assemble, or even celebrate a birthday, they are not just targeting opposition voices—they are testing how far they can go in suppressing collective action altogether.

“For the NLC, this is an urgent call to defend the democratic space that allows us to fight for workers’ rights. If we allow these encroachments to go unchallenged, we risk normalising a reality where the government picks and chooses who enjoys constitutional rights.

“We must stand firm—not just for Nigerian workers, whose livelihoods depend on the freedom to demand justice without fear, but also for every Nigerian who seeks to participate in governance.”