THE Human Rights Foundation has classified Nigeria as a fully authoritarian regime in its latest global assessment, arguing that the country’s electoral process, protection of dissent and institutional checks on executive power have deteriorated to levels inconsistent with democratic governance. The assessment, published on the foundation’s Tyranny Tracker platform, places Nigeria in the fully authoritarian category after evaluating countries across three pillars namely electoral competition, freedom of dissent, and institutional accountability. “HRF classifies Nigeria as ruled by a fully authoritarian regime. Nigeria is a federal republic of 36 states with a presidential system of government,” the report read. “The regime hinders opposition parties’ electoral campaign, engages in voting irregularities, enjoys significant and unfair campaign advantages, and undermines independent electoral oversight,” it stated.