FCT council elections: Atiku blames Tinubu for voter apathy

Says ‘Democracy is being suffocated’ under President’s watch’

Emeka Agu Jnr

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has blamed President Bola Tinubu for the low voter turnout in Saturday’s area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

According to him, the low voter turnout is the outcome of a political environment “poisoned by intolerance, intimidation, and the systematic weakening of opposition voices”.

In a statement issued on Sunday by his media office in Abuja, the former vice-president accused the President Bola Tinubu-led administration of shrinking the democratic space.

Reacting to the exercise, the former Vice President described the turnout, which averaged below 20 per cent, with the Abuja Municipal Area Council recording a shocking 7.8 per cent as a damning verdict on the health of Nigeria’s democracy under the current administration.

According to Atiku, now a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), such abysmal civic participation in the nation’s capital- the symbolic heartbeat of the federation is not accidental.

“It is the predictable outcome of a political environment poisoned by intolerance, intimidation, and the systematic weakening of opposition voices,“ he stated.

The Waziri Adamawa noted that the 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,” he added.

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.”

The former Vice President called on opposition parties and democratic forces across the country to urgently close ranks and forge a united front.

“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 stated.