Atiku: Nigeria on verge of losing democracy

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned that Nigeria could lose its hard-fought democracy if it continues on the current trajectory. He spoke on Monday in Abuja, as a panellist at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), the Centre for Democracy […]

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned that Nigeria could lose its hard-fought democracy if it continues on the current trajectory.

He spoke on Monday in Abuja, as a panellist at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA), and the National Peace Committee (NPC).

“We really are at a crossroads in this democratic experiment. We either decide we want to be democratic or we decide to abandon it,” he said, while alluding to the statement that it is the court that now decides candidates or winners, not the people.

He said some of the challenges political parties were facing had moved to governance.

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“Now, governance dictates to the political parties, whereas political parties should have been directing governance on what should be done because that is their role. They interact with ordinary people, go on campaigns, and so on,” he said.

He said the challenge should be to see how the National Assembly, through various laws and legislations, can help ensure this objective is achieved.

He recalled that he made some recommendations on the amendment of the Electoral Act, but added that he knew they would not be considered, even though they were made in good faith.

“With the current National Assembly, I don’t see them adopting most of the recommendations I made. As someone said here, we have a National Assembly that is a rubber stamp for the government. But I refuse to agree. It all depends on us,” he added.

He cited an example of how the Turkish electoral body refused to declare President  Recep Erdogan as the winner after he fell short by 0.5% of the votes, having polled 49.5%, with the country’s constitution demanding a minimum of 50% for anyone to be declared the winner. He questioned whether Nigeria’s electoral umpire possesses such credibility.

‘Govt offering opposition N50m’

The former VP also alleged that the present government had been inducing opposition party leaders.

“I want to say it here publicly. I met with a political party leadership in the present opposition, and they told me flatly that this government gives them N50 million each.

“Where do we go from here? This means that if we are not careful, we are talking to some of you here, but you are recipients of the N50 million from the APC government.

“Do we really want to fight for democracy? If we don’t, we all go back to our homes. But if we do, I have been in this struggle for over 30 years, an attempt was made on my life, and I escaped. I went into exile, but I never gave up. My businesses were taken over, and I am still surviving. So, you need to make up your mind. I am not doing it for myself. For me, I have lived my life. I am doing it because of you.”

Responding to a question on what to do with the “winning at all costs” mentality among ruling parties, Atiku said, “I think the current system has been bastardised. As El-Rufai said, there is a need for the entire opposition political parties to think of a way out of the situation. Otherwise, we may end up with no democracy at all. God forbid. Again, maybe history is about to repeat itself because that was the same threat the other opposition political parties were facing when APC was formed. We have to learn from that historical fact.”

He also noted the importance of party funding. “This is crucial to strengthening political parties,” he said.

Opposition must unite to save democracy – El-Rufai

Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, echoed Atiku’s concerns, describing the current situation with the opposition as well as the style and quality of governance as a national emergency. He stressed the need for opposition parties to unite and form a broad platform to protect democracy.

“The way and manner opposition political parties are being targeted for destruction and the style and quality of governance in this country today is a national emergency. It should concern everyone. And I think this is a problem for all of us to think about and play a role in changing it because, as His Excellency (Atiku) said, we stand the risk of losing democracy itself.”

He said a recent poll suggested that 75% of registered voters in Nigeria do not intend to vote in 2027, adding, “This is very dangerous, and I believe every voice must rise to fight for this democracy. For those of us in our 60s, we lived half our lives under military rule. We know what it is, and we don’t want a military rule, but we also don’t want civilians behaving like the military in their babbar riga and suits. So, this is a national emergency.”

He, therefore, appealed to opposition political parties to coalesce into one big party, like the APC in 2014, to save democracy but must ensure internal democracy is enshrined from its formation.

‘There’s ongoing project to destroy opposition parties’

El-Rufai also expressed concerns about the targeting of opposition parties in Nigeria, particularly the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which he claimed is “clearly targeted for destruction.”

According to him, “There are internal mercenaries in the PDP that have been hired, paid or otherwise motivated to destroy the party,” he said, predicting that “the party is on its way to the grave, and it is most unfortunate.”

He also said similar moves were being made towards the Labour Party, citing a conversation with Peter Obi, where Obi admitted, “I don’t know what is happening in the party that I contested for president.”

El-Rufai further stated that “there seems to be a project to destroy all the opposition political parties” and insisted that the only viable option for the opposition is to unite and form a broad platform.

“We have to put aside our differences and create a broad platform that will do the driving of the military again because we are there almost again,” he said.

Referring to Atiku, he said, “So, Your Excellency, we need your experience and skills.”

‘APC no longer believes in confronting Nigeria’s problems’

El-Rufai also lamented the current state of the ruling party, which he was instrumental in founding.

“I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ of the APC has met for the past two years. No caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it is a zero-man show,” he added.

He described how the original goal of forming the APC was to build a progressive party focused on fighting corruption, revamping the economy, and restoring security, but he believed those objectives had been abandoned.

“The problems are still there. However, I no longer believe that my party believes in confronting those problems. So, the distance between me and APC is widening, but I remain where I am because these problems remain the living problems of Nigerians and they have to be addressed, and the only way to address them is through the instrumentality of the political parties,” he added.

‘Illiterate party delegates responsible for current leadership’

El-Rufai also stressed the need for minimum qualifications for both political party candidates and the delegates who elect them. “You cannot afford to have illiterates, semi-illiterates, cunning people, and so on as your leaders,” he said.

He warned that failing to set such standards results in poor leadership: “You will end up with what we have. So, the parties must have a standard.”

While acknowledging that the constitution sets the minimum qualification as a secondary school certificate, he stressed that political parties should be free to set their own standards.

He said while he is still a member of the APC, “This is a challenge to the opposition; you must come together and form a party that, in my view, should closely resemble the NPN of the second republic. That is one political party that was an effective machine.”

Power not normally given, but fought for – Amaechi

Responding to the position of one of the panellists, former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, said the problem is that most Nigerians are afraid of defending their votes, adding that power is not given but must be fought for.

He recalled the election of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau as governor of Kano State, where the people’s mobilised resistance played a decisive role in ensuring the victory.

“The only way Shekarau became governor of Kano State was because people lined up. When they asked, ‘How many people are there?’ they said, ‘Over 500,000.’ No, I won’t kill over 500,000; announce Shekarau. It happened in Ghana. Before the election of the last president, two days, a lot of us were called to intervene. Why did they do that? Because the people were ready to die. You are talking and abusing people. Nobody has power and will give it to you, not even me. If you want a pastor as president, go and get one. The politician is there in Nigeria to steal, maim, and kill to remain in power. If you think Tinubu will give it to you, you are wasting your time,” he said.

Referring to how he led the APC to unseat the PDP in 2015, Amaechi said former President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat when he saw “we were ready to die.”

Presidency, APC mum

Efforts to get reactions from both the presidency and the ruling APC were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report. Calls and messages sent to Daniel Bwala and Bayo Onanuga, spokespersons to the president, were not returned.

Similarly, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, asked our correspondent to send the comments of Atiku and El-Rufai via WhatsApp to him so that he would react.  He was yet to do so at the time this report was filed.

Shettima: Democracy, despite flaws, is best

However, speaking earlier at the conference, Vice President Kashim Shettima underscored the value of democracy despite its imperfections.

Represented by his Special Adviser on political issues, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, Shettima highlighted the government’s commitment to strengthening democratic institutions and addressing the country’s challenges.

He remarked, “Democracy is not perfect, yet it remains superior to all other systems of government. We will work to fix major weaknesses in our economy, secure our communities, fight corruption, and strengthen the judiciary’s independence to improve governance.”

Shettima called on Nigerians to join in the effort to sustain democracy, acknowledging the difficulties posed by some government policies. He said, “We are honest about the challenges, but our commitment to easing the pain and staying focused on our goals remains steadfast. Nigeria shall rise again.”