Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday declared that Nigeria is facing a total collapse across critical sectors, accusing the current administration of presiding over a deepening national crisis.
Atiku spoke at the national convention of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) held at the Rainbow Event Centre in Abuja, where he urged party members to embrace what he described as a “genuine and sincere change.”
Painting a grim picture of the country’s condition, he said, “Our economy, gone. Our sovereignty, gone. Our security, gone. Our education, gone. Our infrastructure, zero. Healthcare, gone. Now, what kind of a people are we?”
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that the former vice-president recalled the circumstances that led to his involvement in the formation of the All Progressives Congress, saying he was pressured by political leaders across party lines.
“I remember when the APC was being formed, the entire political leadership in this country from various parties stormed into my house and said, look, if you don’t come into APC, this is not possible,” he said.
“They literally compelled me to join APC only for us to end in this state of affairs.”
Atiku stressed that the current situation in the country demands more than routine political engagement, urging members of the ADC to see the next election as an opportunity to reverse Nigeria’s decline.
“We must rise and make sure that there is change and a genuine change, a sincere change to rectify all these challenges I have enumerated,” he said.
He warned that superficial efforts would not be sufficient to address the country’s deep-rooted challenges.
‘We Owe It To The Younger Generation’
The former presidential candidate, who previously contested elections on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in 2019 and 2023, said his generation remains in politics out of responsibility to younger Nigerians.
“We are people of my own generation are in this game, if you call it game, because of you, young men and women, our children and our grandchildren,” he said.
Atiku acknowledged that Nigeria had been beneficial to his generation but expressed concern that the same could not be said for the current and future generations.
“This country has been good to us, but we don’t believe that this country has been good to the current generation, to the youth, to the women, to the future of this country,” he said.
“That is why we are today in ADC.”