Atiku Abubakar Warns of Voter Apathy Threatening Democracy

Atiku Abubakar, the former Vice President of Nigeria, raised alarms regarding the alarming low voter turnout in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area council elections held on Saturday. He noted that the average turnout was below 20%, with the Abuja Municipal Area Council recording a mere 7.8%.

In a statement issued on Sunday by his media office, Atiku described this situation as troubling and indicative of a decline in public confidence in the electoral process. He argued that the low participation in the nation's capital is not accidental and predicted that such trends could result from a political climate marked by intolerance and intimidation, which weakens opposition voices.

Atiku accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of deliberately shrinking democratic space through harassment and coercion of dissenting political actors. He cautioned that if citizens lose faith in the electoral process, democracy begins to die.

He called for opposition parties and pro-democracy groups to unite beyond partisan interests to preserve the republic and address the urgent need to rebuild Nigeria's democratic foundations.