Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of persecuting opposition figures in what he described as a strategy to weaken dissent before the 2027 general elections.
Atiku, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), alleged that state institutions were being used to intimidate political opponents.
According to a BBC Hausa report on Saturday, he cited the police invitation of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and a series of attacks on opposition members as evidence of a “calculated assault” on democracy.
Speaking through his media aide, AbdurRashid Shehu Sharada, Atiku claimed that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was exploiting divisions within opposition ranks while emboldening political thuggery.
“From the attack on a former Minister of Justice in Kebbi State where our ADC supporters were brutalised, to the disruption of a security meeting in Katsina led by Usman Bugaje, it is clear the government is encouraging political violence,” Sharada said.
He noted that the disruption of an ADC meeting in Kaduna, which El-Rufai attended, was particularly troubling since no suspects were arrested, while El-Rufai and other opposition leaders were instead invited for questioning.
The Presidency, however, dismissed Atiku’s allegations. Presidential spokesman Abdul’Aziz Abdul’Aziz said there was no government-backed clampdown on opposition groups.
He explained that El-Rufai’s police invitation stemmed from comments he made at the Kaduna meeting and reports that some armed supporters were present at the gathering.