A former Labour Party vice presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has characterised President Bola Tinubu as a more brutal dictator than any past military ruler in the country.

Mr Baba-Ahmed, who stated this during an interview on Seun Okinbaloye’s Mic on Podcast on Saturday, described the Tinubu-led government as undisciplined, shameless and unprincipled.

“The person ruling Nigeria today is doing what even military rulers did not do. Tinubu is doing what IBB, Abacha, Abdulsalam, and others combined didn’t do,” the politician stated.

“The military were so disciplined. They respected the constitution. They had shame. They had principle. But now, it’s brute civil force.

“You have an individual who is wearing civilian clothes, albeit in the form of a signal and uniform, but he is a dictator. The national assembly is under him. The budget. The laws. The national anthem, attention. Whether people like it or not, Tinubu will have his way with Nigeria,” he added.

Mr Baba-Ahmed, who knocked Mr Tinubu for removing fuel subsidy despite protesting against it in 2012, insisted the president’s economic policies were designed to benefit cronies and friends.

He said, “In 2012, an individual led a protest for the removal of the subsidy, and when he became president, at Eagle Square he removed the same fuel subsidy. Nigerians, where are you? I am talking about the politics and principle in it.

“Their cronies and friends have benefited from their policies. Where is electricity and security? There is none in Nigeria. Nigerians are feeling more insecure in their homes. We need to turn things around and secure the people. Any policy, however beautiful it is, laced with corruption will never work.”

The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) chieftain further accused the Tinubu-led government of causing disarray in opposition parties, and lamented widespread killings across the country.

“Tinubu has qualified himself for divine intervention because the might of Nigeria has never been turned against political parties. All they did in three years was to destroy political parties. Nigeria is a mammoth, and if you turn it against countries, you will defeat those countries. Now you turn it against political parties.

“The trauma is with Nigeria—people who buy fuel and manage companies. As an individual, I am not traumatised. You read the news every day that Nigerians are killed. A nation that every day has hundreds of people killed. A nation that has lost its way. A nation whose leadership focus is undefined, except for an individual and his interests. That’s the trauma we should be talking about,” Mr Baba-Ahmed said.

The presidency could not immediately be reached for comments on Mr Baba-Ahmed’s allegations.