One of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political aides has walked out on the administration citing the country’s gravitation towards a one-party State under his Ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the president’s alleged “unholy alliance” with the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike.
Aliyu Audu, Senior Special Assistant to the president on Public Affairs, submitted his letter of resignation dated June 8, 2025 to the Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila in which he stated that “I write to formally tender my resignation as Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, effective immediately.”
Giving further details in another statement, Audu insisted that his resignation was not an act of rebellion, but a matter of principle and conscience, expressing his discomfiture with what he perceived as a growing effort to stifle political opposition and dissenting voices in Nigeria.
Warning against authoritarian tendencies reminiscent of past regimes, Audu posited that, “If we now begin to silence or crush opposition simply because we have the upper hand, then we are no different from the very system we once criticised under Obasanjo in 2003”.
He said “Though I do not align with the PDP, I refuse to be used directly or indirectly as an instrument to reduce Nigeria to a one-party State. That would be a betrayal of both divine favour and democratic principle.”
Asserting his position that democracy must be anchored in ideological diversity rather than political dominance, Audu described the suppression of opposition voices as “politically reckless” and “spiritually dangerous.”
Quick to clarify that he had no issues with President Tinubu’s economic reforms, the former political aide stated unequivocally that he could no longer align himself with the administration’s political direction, citing specifically an alleged “unholy alliance” between President Tinubu and Wike as emblematic of a broader departure from progressive values.
According to Aliyu, “We just differ on political views as I pride myself with being a progressive and a promoter of democratic values, which seems to be lost in the unholy alliance of PBAT with Wike”.