The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised Umar Bago, governor of Niger State, over the closure of Badeggi FM, a private radio station.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Bolaji Abdullahi, national publicity secretary of the ADC, described the shutdown as an attack on press freedom and a sign of growing authoritarianism under the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The party said the action reflects a troubling pattern of “executive overreach, disdain for constitutional rights, and a steady erosion of democratic norms.”

According to the ADC, the governor’s decision to shut down the station “with immediate effect” mirrors the behaviour of a military regime.

Abdullahi recalled a recent statement by Monday Okpebholo, APC governor of Edo, who declared Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, persona non grata in the state. Obi is also a leading member of the coalition movement.

“Now this: Another APC Governor of Niger State, Muhammed Umaru Bago, has just announced a clampdown on a private radio station in the state, with ‘immediate effect,’ in a manner reminiscent of the worst form of military dictatorship,” he said.

“Perhaps Governor Bago needs to be reminded that he was elected by these same people whose truth he now finds so uncomfortable that he is willing to have their heads.

“The cardinal principle of liberal democracy is the freedoms it guarantees, which include freedom of speech, movement, or association.

“Under our constitution, no one has the power to truncate these freedoms under any pretext whatsoever. But it does appear that the APC governors who consider themselves as some kind of emperors need to be educated on this democratic principle.

“If the said radio station has behaved unethically in any way or has transgressed the limits of free speech, there are provisions in the laws for legitimate redress, and there are institutions saddled with the responsibility of ensuring compliance.

“Under Section 2(1)(b) of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Act, the power to sanction a radio station rests solely with the NBC—not with any state governor.

According to him, by criminalising free speech and declaring dissent as treason, Bago has demonstrated the scant regard he has for the very constitution that he has sworn to uphold.

“For an elected governor to accuse ordinary citizens of the highest crime in the land, which is treason, and then proceed to summarily pronounce them guilty all by himself, just because they dared to broadcast information that made the governor uncomfortable, is outrageous in every respect,” the statement read.

“Today it is Badeggi FM—tomorrow it could be a newspaper, a social media platform, or a journalist asking the ‘wrong questions.’ This is how autocracy begins: not with tanks in the streets, but with microphones being seized and studios being bulldozed.”

The ADC called for the immediate unsealing of Badeggi FM and demanded an independent investigation into the alleged misuse of security forces for political retaliation.

It also urged the national assembly to act swiftly in reinforcing the independence of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and safeguarding it from political interference.