By Adesina Soyooye
Former Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar on Monday, strongly warned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and pointed out that his Government is sliding the country toward authoritarian rule.
In an opinion
piece titled “A Nation Gripped in the Throes of Fear,” Atiku said that Nigeria has become a police state, where citizens, journalists, and activists are harassed for expressing a dissent opinion.
Said Atiku: “There is a disturbing yet growing pattern by which the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu continues to muzzle free speech and erode the integrity of our democracy.
“If this creeping culture of repression continues unchecked, it will ultimately turn the government into a bully.”
Atiku condemned the clamp down on critics using the Cyberstalking and described it as a “modern tool of tyranny reminiscent of colonial sedition laws.”
Atiku: “Under the obnoxious Cyberstalking Act, this government has metamorphosed into a leviathan, one that thrives on fear and seeks to silence the very voices that sustain democracy. This is an aberration, an affront to freedom, and it must be roundly rejected.”
Atiku noted that laws which limit free expression are undemocratic and unconstitutional. He urged Nigerians to defend their right to speak without fear.
The former Vice President also accused President
Tinubu’s
administration of using state institutions to suppress opposition and disobey court orders. He said such actions weaken democracy and the rule of law.
“In the two and a half years since the Tinubu administration began unleashing its cocktail of economic hardship, hunger, and despair on the Nigerian people, we have witnessed protests and outcries. Yet, rather than listen, the government has chosen the path of brute force and intimidation, treating dissent as treason.”
He lamented the government’s alleged disregard for court orders and human rights violations which he said have “become its most infamous credentials.”
He lamented the growing silence of Nigeria’s democratic institutions, saying parliament and oversight agencies now serve power instead of checking it.
“Even institutions that should act as checks on executive excesses, legislatures, oversight agencies, and the judiciary, have become mere rubber stamps, their leaders tripping over themselves to sing the praises of a president few dare to question.”
The former Vice President also warned that this culture of silence and submission was eroding public trust and weakening Nigeria’s democratic foundations.
Describing the upcoming 2027 general election as a “contest between the Tinubu hegemony and the will of the people.”
He urged Nigerians and civil society groups to resist intimidation and reclaim their democratic rights.
He said: “As a democrat and stakeholder in the opposition, I am convinced that the 2027 election will be a defining moment, a contest not merely between parties, but between the Tinubu hegemony and the will of the Nigerian people.”
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