Atiku accuses Tinubu, APC silencing opposition, warns of one-party autocracy

PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar
2023 PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has sounded the alarm on what he calls a systematic campaign by President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to harass, intimidate, and dismantle opposition figures in Nigeria ¹.

Atiku in a statement post on his X handle on Thursday, alleged that the ruling party is hell-bent on establishing a one-party system, citing his own experience as a target of vicious attacks after speaking out against the APC’s tactics.

The recent arrest and prosecution of activist Omoyele Sowore and the reported targeting of Professor Usman Yusuf, a vocal critic of the administration, are just the latest examples of this crackdown, according to Atiku.

“When I made the clarion call that Tinubu and the APC were devoting their energies to the systematic harassment, intimidation, and dismantling of the opposition, all in service of their grand design for a one-party autocracy, I became the target of vicious attacks.

“The arrest and baseless prosecution of @YeleSowore is the latest chapter in this unrelenting campaign. Now, they have seen fit to add Professor Usman Yusuf — an outspoken critic of this administration — into their grim roster. At the pace they are going, it seems they may soon find themselves contending with the incarceration of every one of us”, he said.