Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday, on the anniversary of the June 12, said Nigeria teetered on the edge of a dangerous precipice and a creeping one-party state.
In a statement to mark the June 12 Anniversary, Atiku said, ‘’Today, Nigeria teeters on the edge of a dangerous precipice—a creeping one-party dictatorship is replacing the democratic order we bled for. Those who laid down their lives did not do so for Nigerians to groan under the yoke of authoritarianism and economic suffocation.
‘’The ruling party and its federal government now govern with the unmistakable intent to dominate, subdue, and silence. Their tactics are not subtle. Opposition voices are being systematically erased. Contracts for multi-billion-naira infrastructure are funnelled to cronies and family associates of the president.
‘’National institutions, once symbols of unity, are being brazenly renamed in honour of a sitting president, as though the country were a private estate. What we are witnessing is not governance, it is conquest,’’ he stated
According to the former vice-president, ‘’This government represents the lowest ebb in our democratic journey. Institutions have been weaponised. Policies are crafted not to empower the people but to entrench fear, obedience, and control.
‘’The common Nigerian has been abandoned at the altar of elite comfort. And make no mistake: this is the antithesis of everything June 12 stands for. We are again at a historic threshold. Nigeria must choose: the path of democratic renewal or the dark alley of despotism.’
‘’It is about reclaiming Nigeria for Nigerians and safeguarding the future of generations unborn.’’
Chuks Okocha
