Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of sliding toward authoritarianism, warning that recent actions targeting opposition figures and civic groups pose a grave threat to Nigeria’s democracy.
Atiku, who was the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, issued the warning on Friday in a statement posted on his official X account. He cited the police summons of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, the disruption of the Katsina Elders Forum security meeting, the attack on former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, and the reported clampdown on leaders of the African Democratic Congress as evidence of what he described as “a coordinated and dangerous assault on dissenting voices.”
“The recent events in Kaduna, Katsina, and other areas highlight a troubling trend towards authoritarianism under the Tinubu administration,” Atiku wrote. “The summons of Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and leaders of the ADC in Kaduna, the brazen attack on former Attorney General Abubakar Malami, and the violent disruption of the Katsina Elders Forum meeting on security reforms are not isolated incidents. Instead, they signify a coordinated and dangerous assault on dissenting voices, civic freedoms, and the very essence of pluralistic democracy.”
The former vice president warned that stifling opposition and weaponising state security agencies against perceived critics undermines the very foundation of the republic.
“It is important to emphasise that dissent is vital to democracy. Criminalising opposition, attacking reformist voices, and undermining peaceful civic engagement erode the foundations of our Republic,” he said. “No government that resorts to intimidation and uses security agencies as weapons against perceived opponents can genuinely uphold democratic principles.”
Atiku cautioned that the country is “dangerously close to slipping into authoritarian rule” if what he called repressive patterns persist. “We cannot afford to return to an era marked by fear, silence, and impunity,” he added.
Calling for collective resistance across political divides, Atiku urged Nigerians to defend democratic values regardless of party affiliation. “Power is transient, but history will harshly judge those who wield it against the people instead of in their service. Nigeria belongs to all of us, not just the ruling party or any single individual,” he said.
His remarks come amid heightened tensions in northern Nigeria over allegations of political suppression. Earlier this week, El-Rufai accused the police of halting a scheduled African Democratic Congress meeting in Kaduna, despite constitutional guarantees of freedom of association. In Katsina, a planned Elders Forum meeting on security reforms was reportedly broken up, while Malami was said to have been attacked by suspected political thugs.
Atiku’s intervention underscores mounting concern among opposition figures and civil society groups about shrinking civic space under the Tinubu government.