Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress chieftain Atiku Abubakar has criticized the current administration, alleging that President Bola Tinubu is suffocating Nigeria’s democracy following the low voter turnout in Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections.
In a statement shared by his media aide Paul Ibe on X (formerly Twitter), Atiku described the turnout — which averaged below 20 per cent, with Abuja Municipal Area Council recording just 7.8 per cent — as a damning reflection on the state of democracy under the Tinubu administration.
“The dismal voter participation in the nation’s capital, the symbolic heartbeat of the federation, is no accident,” Atiku said. He attributed the low turnout to what he described as a political environment poisoned by intolerance, intimidation, and the systematic weakening of opposition voices.
The former presidential candidate alleged that the All Progressives Congress government has implemented policies that shrink democratic space, harass dissenters, and treat alternative political viewpoints as threats rather than contributions to national development.
“When citizens lose faith that their votes matter, democracy begins to die,” he said. “What we are witnessing is not mere voter apathy. It is a direct consequence of an administration that governs with a chokehold on pluralism. Democracy in Nigeria is being suffocated — slowly, steadily, and dangerously.”
Atiku warned that continued erosion of participatory governance could inflict irreversible damage on the democratic fabric painstakingly built over decades.
“A democracy without vibrant opposition, without free political competition, and without public confidence is democracy in name only. If this chokehold is not released, history will record this era as the period when our hard-won freedoms were traded for fear and conformity,” he added.
The former Vice President called on opposition parties and democratic forces across the country to unite.
“This is no longer about party lines; it is about preserving the Republic. The time to stand together to rescue and rebuild Nigeria is now,” Atiku stated.