Dare Babalola
Former Vice President and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has sounded a distressing alarm over the alarmingly low voter turnout recorded in Saturday’s FCT Area Council elections, describing it as a “damning verdict” on the health of Nigeria’s democracy under the current administration.
In a statement issued by his Media Office on Sunday, Atiku expressed profound disappointment with the turnout, which averaged below 20 per cent, with the Abuja Municipal Area Council recording a shocking 7.8 per cent.
He attributed the abysmal civic participation in the nation’s capital to a political environment poisoned by intolerance, intimidation, and the systematic weakening of opposition voices.
Atiku alleged that the President Bola Tinubu-led APC government has pursued a deliberate policy of shrinking democratic space, harassing dissenters, coercing defectors, and fostering a climate where alternative political viewpoints are treated as threats rather than contributions to national development.
“When citizens lose faith that their votes matter, democracy begins to die,” Atiku stated.
“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,” the former Vice President said.
He warned that the steady erosion of participatory governance, if left unchecked, 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 stated.
Atiku called on opposition parties and democratic forces across the country to urgently close ranks and forge a united front, saying, “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.”
