The Labour Party (LP) has slammed the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over its glaring intolerance for dissent and descent to authoritarianism.

By allegedly directing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) not to issue a discharge certificate to Ushie Rita Uguamaye, popularly known as Raye, who in viral video criticised the poor monthly allowance for Corps members, the opposition party said that the administration appears on a steady march toward a compressive erosion of democratic freedoms and free speech.

The party also called on the President to “rein in overzealous state agents determined to turn Nigeria into a repressive state under the guise of protecting the regime.”

Labour Party, in a statement on Monday, signed by Ken Asogwa, Senior Special Adviser to the interim national chairman, Sen. Nenadi Usman,faulted the reason advanced by the NYSC for withholding the discharge certificate of the corper.

“The NYSC’s claim that Raye’s certificate was withheld because she missed her mandatory April 2025 biometric clearance is nothing more than a deliberate attempt to “give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.”

It explained that the decision to withhold the discharge certificate of Ushie Rita Uguamaye, popularly known as Raye, “is yet another vengeful act emblematic of President Bola Tinubu’s APC administration.”

In March 2024, Ushie Rita Uguamaye, an NYSC member serving in Lagos State, posted a video decrying the cost-of-living crises, and the poor state of the welfare of corp members.

The video, in which she called President Bola Tinubu “a terrible president”, went viral. She also complained about the air quality in Lagos state. Her video spread widely across social media, generating many comments, as many Nigerians resonated with her concerns about the worsening economic hardship.

The controversy escalated further when Rita posted another video, which this time included the recording of a phone conversation with her NYSC Local Government Inspector (LGI), who threatened her with sanctions unless she took down the initial video, citing its political content.

Uguamaye later apologised for some of her comments, which she said were misconstrued as “talking down” on Lagos.

Raye who is expected to pass out of the one-year mandatory service in the second quarter of the year in a recent post on Instagram raised the alarm, saying she went to the NYSC office to claim her discharge certificate, but she was not given.

Reacting to her post, the NYSC’s claim that Raye’s certificate was withheld because she missed her mandatory April 2025 biometric clearance, a statement the Labour Party described as “nothing more than a deliberate attempt to “give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.”

Lawyer to Raye, Inebehen Effiong, has since claimed that aye was deliberately denied biometric clearance by a staff of the NYSC, vowing to pursue the matter to logical conclusion.

LP stressed: “According to Raye’s account, her Local Government Inspector (LGI) unjustly denied her the opportunity to complete the biometric process for that month.

“Independent findings corroborate her story: Raye presented herself at the LGI centre in April with all required documentation, only to be turned away by the official on duty.

“It is deeply regrettable that freedom of expression and the right to hold opinions – guaranteed under Section 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) – have effectively been criminalised by this intolerant APC government.

“What exactly did Raye say that is not already common knowledge? Is there any Nigerian today who does not know that this APC government is “terrible” in its policy initiatives and implementations? Why, then, should she be victimised for merely echoing an open secret?

“While it is no secret that this government is hypersensitive and incapable of accommodating dissent, particularly regarding its lacklustre policies that have impoverished millions and plunged over 133 million Nigerians into multidimensional poverty in just two years, we urge President Bola Tinubu to demonstrate at least a pretence of tolerance.

“He should immediately direct the NYSC to issue Raye her discharge certificate, having fulfilled all lawful requirements. The President must also rein in overzealous state agents determined to turn Nigeria into a repressive state under the guise of protecting the regime.

“As this government continues its dangerous descent into authoritarianism, we call on all Nigerians to remain vigilant. Our democracy is endangered not only by the tyrannical impulses of this rudderless APC administration but also by the silence and acquiescence of men and women of good conscience.”