Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned that Nigeria could lose its democracy if it continues on the present trajectory, under the administration of President Bola Tinibu.
Atiku said to this 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,” Atiku said, while stressing that it is the court that now decides candidates or winners, not the people.
“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.
“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.
Other speakers at the event were former minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amechi and Hakeem Baba Ahmed, who represented vice President Kashim Shettima.
