The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has lambasted the administration of President Bola Tinubu, warning that the incumbent is aggressively prepared to either hijack the 2027 general elections by raw force or destroy the nation’s democratic structures entirely.
In a statement released on Saturday by the Atiku Media Office, the veteran politician raised a national alarm over what he termed “creeping authoritarianism” designed by Aso Rock to wipe out opposition parties from the political space.
Atiku’s fierce intervention followed a massive military-grade police blockade and demolition threats engineered by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, which forcefully barred the anti-Wike faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from accessing a paid venue in Abuja to affirm former President Goodluck Jonathan as its 2027 presidential flagbearer.
Atiku, who dumped the crisis-ridden PDP for the ADC where he clinched the party’s presidential ticket, described the desperate deployment of state machinery to muzzle the PDP as a direct manifestation of Tinubu’s panic-driven tactics ahead of the 2027 polls.
“The action of Minister Wike to deny the PDP the opportunity from holding an event in line with its constitutional right represents a blatant abuse of the party’s rights and an unacceptable infringement on the freedom of association and peaceful assembly,” Atiku fired.
“This high-handed action is consistent with President Bola Tinubu’s emerging pattern of deploying state institutions and resources to frustrate political opposition and weaken the democratic process in the build-up to the 2027 presidential election.”
The ADC presidential candidate exposed a pattern of selective enforcement and double standards run by Wike’s FCT administration. He revealed that while authentic opposition structures are being hunted down with armed police trucks, rogue, state-sponsored factions are given red-carpet treatment to operate within the capital.
“Private and public facilities in the Federal Capital Territory or indeed anywhere in the country exist to serve all Nigerians irrespective of their political affiliation,” the statement read. “We have seen a pattern of political interference through public institutions aimed at weakening opposition parties under the current administration.
“We have also seen, by the case under reference with the PDP, ditto the ADC during its national convention held in April, that the Tinubu government is literally pushing political opposition out of space. It was under the same leadership of Wike in the FCT that a sponsored faction of the ADC had a public event a few days ago with no one threatening them.”
The former Vice President, labelling President Tinubu a “steamroller of impunity,” declared that the ruling party’s frantic attempts to stifle dissent and rig the political environment ahead of time are driven by a profound fear of facing the Nigerian electorate in a free, fair, and transparent contest.
Atiku maintained that the heavy-handedness of the administration would ultimately backfire, as suffering citizens are now resolute in their demand for accountability and constitutional leadership.
“The Tinubu government is afraid of free and fair elections and their tactics to suppress the opposition will not succeed. Nigerians are resolute in their demand for genuine democracy, accountability, and leadership that respects the constitution rather than subverting it,” Atiku noted.
The statement concluded with a direct charge to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike to immediately cease his “unconstitutional actions” and grant all political parties unhindered access to facilities across Abuja.
Atiku further urged civil society organisations, democratic stakeholders, and well-meaning Nigerians to collectively resist the administration’s tyrannical trajectory before the foundations of the republic collapse.
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