Former Vice President and a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Tinubu of actively dismantling democracy and pushing Nigeria toward full-blown authoritarian rule, with dangerous implications for the entire West African subregion.
In a blistering condemnation on Monday, Atiku reacted to what he described as a state-sponsored siege by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on the residences and businesses of former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, an action he called lawless, vindictive, and politically motivated.
According to Atiku’s media office, the DSS swooped in to seal Malami’s properties shortly after his visit despite the matter being before the courts.
“This is not governance. This is intimidation. This is a regime weaponizing state power to silence dissent,” Atiku declared.
He warned that Nigeria is witnessing the rapid erosion of democratic norms under Tinubu, with state institutions now reduced to tools of political persecution.
“What we are seeing is the naked abuse of power security agencies deployed not for national security, but for settling political scores. This is how democracies die,” he said.
Atiku accused the Tinubu administration of running a deliberate and coordinated campaign to crush opposition voices and impose total political control ahead of the 2027 elections.
“Let it be said clearly: this government is terrified of competition. That is why it is resorting to brute force harassing, intimidating, and attempting to break opposition leaders into submission,” he stated.
He further alleged that the sustained targeting of figures like Nasir El-Rufai and Abubakar Malami is part of a broader strategy to coerce them into abandoning opposition politics and falling in line with the ruling APC.
“This is political extortion at the highest level join us or be destroyed. That is the message being sent,” Atiku said.
The former Vice President warned that Nigeria is dangerously close to becoming a one-party state in all but name.
“When opposition is criminalised and dissent is punished, elections become a mere formality. If Tinubu wants to run unopposed, then let INEC stop wasting public funds on a sham election,” he added.
Drawing a chilling parallel, Atiku likened the current trajectory to the infamous Abacha-era self-succession plot.
“We have seen this script before. It ended in national disgrace. What is happening now is a dangerous replay, one that Nigerians must resist,” he warned.
He further accused the administration of using anti-corruption agencies as instruments of political coercion, forcing elected officials to defect under pressure.
“Governors and political leaders are being railroaded into the APC under threat of persecution. This is not politics, it is state capture,” he said.
Atiku questioned the moral basis of a system where one man seeks to bend the entire political structure to his personal ambition.
“No individual has the right to hijack the destiny of over 200 million Nigerians just to cling to power. Leadership is not ownership,” he stated.
Atiku added: “Freedom of choice is the lifeblood of democracy. Once you kill it, dictatorship takes over. What Tinubu is engineering is nothing short of a civilian coup, denying Nigerians real options while pretending to run a democracy.
“A confident leader welcomes competition. Only a weak and insecure one fears it. This administration’s actions expose its fear, and Nigerians are watching.”
Tinubu strangling democracy, Nigeria sliding into authoritarian rule – Atiku
