Abubakar Atiku, a former vice‑president and the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has accused elements within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of attempting to prevent the ADC from contesting the 2027 general election.
In a statement issued on Monday by Phrank Shaibu, Atiku’s senior special assistant on public communication, the former vice‑president said he had received “credible information” of political and legal manoeuvres aimed at excluding the ADC from the ballot. He described the alleged plot as an effort by “anti‑democratic elements” within the APC to weaken the opposition.
“We are fully aware of their plots. While they seek to sow confusion within the opposition, we know their real target is the ADC because it represents the most credible alternative,” Atiku said.
Atiku urged Nigerians to reject any attempt to determine which opposition parties may participate in the election and called on the public to “rise in defence of democracy.” He warned those he described as “hooded men plotting in dark chambers” that they would not succeed and challenged the APC’s confidence in its popularity if it felt the need to sideline rivals.
He cautioned that recent actions — neutral institutions being drawn into partisan contests, a surge in what he called frivolous litigation, selective use of administrative powers and behind‑closed‑door political pressure — pointed to a pattern that could ultimately imperil democratic processes.
“The pattern has become all too familiar. First, institutions that ought to be neutral are drawn into partisan contests… Then, frivolous litigations suddenly gain unusual momentum. Administrative powers are selectively deployed,” he said. “Before long, democracy itself becomes the casualty.”
Atiku also criticised the ruling party for prioritising efforts to silence the opposition over addressing the nation’s economic and security challenges. “The obsession with silencing the opposition has become so consuming that governance itself has taken a back seat,” he said, citing hunger, inflation, unemployment and insecurity as pressing national concerns.
He urged political competition, not institutional intimidation, as the appropriate response to the ADC’s rising popularity. “Democracies are won at the ballot box, not in back rooms, not through manipulated court processes, and certainly not through the abuse of state institutions,” Atiku said.
The former vice‑president called on the judiciary, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, civil society and the diplomatic community to remain vigilant against any actions that could undermine the credibility of the electoral process. “The ballot is sacred, and every attempt to tamper with it is an attack on the Republic itself,” he said.
Atiku concluded: “The will of the Nigerian people will prevail over every conspiracy, and history will ultimately judge those who seek to place personal ambition above the survival of our democracy.”
