In a scathing Democracy Day critique, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Tinubu administration of systematically dismantling Nigeria’s hard-won democratic freedoms, warning the nation stands “on the edge of a dangerous precipice.”
The 2023 PDP presidential candidate made the statement via his social media handles, describing the opposition’s coalition as a necessary defense of Nigeria’s democratic heritage.
“What we are witnessing is not governance, it is conquest,” Atiku declared, drawing direct parallels between current developments and the ideals of the historic June 12 struggle. “The gains of June 12 were hard-won. But sadly, the democratic promise that blossomed in 1999 is being steadily dismantled before our very eyes.”
The opposition leader painted a dire picture of democratic backsliding, asserting that Nigeria now faces a creeping one-party dictatorship replacing the democratic order many sacrificed to establish. He alleged rampant cronyism in government contracts, systematic silencing of dissent, and the brazen renaming of national institutions to serve personality cults rather than national identity.
Atiku particularly lamented what he described as the weaponization of state institutions and policies designed to entrench control rather than empower citizens, leaving ordinary Nigerians suffering while political elites enjoy comfort.
“This government represents the lowest ebb in our democratic journey,” he continued. “Institutions have been weaponized…The common Nigerian has been abandoned at the altar of elite comfort. And make no mistake: this is the antithesis of everything June 12 stands for.”
Positioning the emerging opposition alliance as a moral imperative, Atiku framed their gathering movement as a crusade to reclaim Nigeria’s democratic soul rather than mere political gamesmanship. He invoked the nation’s historic 1993 moment when Nigeria stood poised to become Africa’s democratic beacon, suggesting the current struggle carries equal weight for the nation’s future.
“As long as oppression thrives, June 12 lives on, not just as memory, but as movement. The time to rise is now,” Atiku concluded.
Leave a comment