By Ayomide Otitoju
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned what he describes as the systematic dismantling of the opposition by President Bola Tinubu’s administration. In a post on his X handle, Atiku, who was the 2023 presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), pointed to the recent arrests of Omoyele Sowore and Professor Usman Yusuf as the latest actions in a broader effort to suppress political dissent.
“Atiku said, ‘When I made the clarion call that Tinubu and the APC were focusing their energies on the systematic harassment, intimidation, and dismantling of the opposition, all to serve their grand design for a one-party autocracy, I became the target of vicious attacks,’” he wrote.
Atiku emphasized that Sowore’s arrest was the latest chapter in this campaign, which now includes Professor Usman Yusuf, an outspoken critic of the government. “At the pace they are going, it seems they may soon find themselves contending with the incarceration of every one of us,” he warned.
Sowore, the convener of the #RevolutionNow movement, was invited by the police for questioning on January 27, 2025. After being questioned at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, he was granted administrative bail, but he rejected the conditions and remained in custody. The police later filed 16 cybercrime charges against him.
On January 30, 2025, a court granted Sowore bail at ₦10 million, with a surety who must deposit original documents of landed property and a passport photograph. The judge also ordered Sowore to deposit his international passport with the court’s registrar. He was given 24 hours to perfect the bail conditions or face remand.
In a separate incident, Professor Usman Yusuf, former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on January 28, 2025, on allegations of fraud. Yusuf was due to be arraigned on January 30, but the arraignment was postponed to February 3, 2025, for the amendment of charges. Despite an application for bail, the court denied it due to the deferred arraignment, and Yusuf was remanded in EFCC custody.
