Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of sliding Nigeria towards authoritarianism, saying recent actions of security agencies show a dangerous pattern of repression.
Atiku, in a statement posted on his verified social media handles, cited the police summons of former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, and leaders of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, in Kaduna as fresh proof that government is clamping down on dissenting voices.
He also pointed to what he described as the brazen attack on ex-Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and the violent disruption of the Katsina Elders Forum meeting on security reforms, stressing that the incidents were not isolated but part of a “coordinated and dangerous assault on civic freedoms.”
According to the former Vice President, “It is important to emphasize that dissent is vital to democracy. Criminalizing opposition, attacking reformist voices, and undermining peaceful civic engagement erode the foundations of our Republic. No government that resorts to intimidation and uses security agencies as weapons against perceived opponents can genuinely uphold democratic principles.”
Warning that the country was “dangerously close to slipping into authoritarian rule,” Atiku urged Nigerians to resist the trend, saying silence would amount to complicity.
“We cannot afford to return to an era marked by fear, silence, and impunity,” he said, adding that defending democracy was a duty of all citizens, not just the opposition.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us, not just the ruling party or any single individual. We must not allow the principles of liberty, justice, and the rule of law to be undermined by partisan desperation,”he declared.