Former Vice-President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has raised the alarm over renewed plots by elements within the ruling establishment to undermine and weaken the opposition ahead of the 2027 general elections. In a stinging statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku claimed he has received credible intelligence revealing that state actors are deploying legal, administrative, and political strategies behind closed doors to block the ADC—which he described as the country’s most credible alternative political platform—from fully participating in the upcoming polls. The opposition leader queried why the All Progressives Congress (APC) is so terrified of healthy political competition if it is truly confident in its popularity, alleging that neutral state institutions, including the judiciary, are being actively dragged into partisan contests through frivolous litigations and selective administrative pressures to manipulate the electoral landscape. Slamming the ruling party for abandoning its core responsibilities to the citizens, Atiku argued that the administration has become completely consumed by its obsession with political survival at a time when ordinary Nigerians are battling severe economic hardships, including skyrocketing inflation, hunger, unemployment, and crashing purchasing power. While warning that any underhanded attempt to suppress a popular political movement or dictate which parties citizens can vote for constitutes a dangerous assault on the Republic’s constitutional democracy, the former vice-president urged the judiciary to firmly resist political intimidation and called on INEC, security agencies, civil society, and the international diplomatic community to maintain absolute vigilance to safeguard the sanctity of the ballot box, though neither the APC nor the Federal Government has released an official response to these heavy allegations.
