By Ayomide Otitoju
Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed concern over the low voter turnout recorded in Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections.
In a statement shared by his media aide Paul Ibe on X, Atiku described the turnout — which averaged below 20 per cent, with Abuja Municipal Area Council recording just 7.8 per cent — as a “damning verdict” on the state of Nigeria’s democracy under the current administration.
Atiku argued that the poor civic participation in the nation’s capital is not accidental, but the result of a political climate he said has been “poisoned by intolerance, intimidation, and the systematic weakening of opposition voices.”
He alleged that the administration of President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have implemented policies that shrink democratic space, harass dissenters, and treat alternative political viewpoints 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.”
He warned that the erosion of participatory governance could inflict irreversible damage on the democratic foundations 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 added.
Atiku called on opposition parties and democratic forces nationwide to unite. “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,” he said.
