Atiku Decries Intimidation of ADC Members, Denial of Using Public Facilities for Campaigns in Sokoto
*Vows to address rally in Sokoto Wednesday
*PDP chairmen petition IG over harassment by APC govs
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Former Vice President and the Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar has decried the violence and political intimidation of members of his party in Sokoto State by the state government as well as refusal of the use of public facilities for rallies and campaigns.
He vowed that irrespective of the actions of security agencies and the state government denial of public facilities for campaigns and rallies that he will address a rally in Sokoto State in Wednesday.
He also accused the leadership of the Department of State Security of recruiting thugs to obstruct ADC campaigns in Sokoto State
This is coming as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP States chairmen has petitioned Police Inspector General over Intimidation and Harassment by APC Governors
Addressing a press conference Tuesday in Abuja, the former vice president said, “I address you today with a heavy but resolute heart. What is unfolding in Sokoto is not ordinary political competition. It is a calculated campaign to frustrate the African Democratic Congress, obstruct our campaign and deny Nigerians the freedom to choose.”
According to Atiku, “Public facilities that should be available to every political party for legitimate campaign activities have been blocked. Logistical support has been withheld. These are not harmless administrative delays. They are deliberate attempts to deny the ADC a level playing field.
“More disturbing still, the information available to us is that the leadership of the Department of State Services is recruiting people to stage protests in Sokoto. The objective is to create disorder, give the APC controlled state government a pretext to impose a curfew and prevent our campaign take off from holding as scheduled.
“We know where some of these protesters are assembled: an office behind Zenith Bank on Koko Road. Trucks are stationed there and dispatched to key points, including the roundabout. These mobilised protesters are causing gridlock. Commuters are being threatened and, in some cases, beaten. Some of the protesters have moved away from the roundabout to find shade.”
He continued, “This is not intelligence work. It is political interference dressed in official uniform. Security agencies exist to protect Nigerians and uphold the law, not to recruit protesters or help a political party manufacture a crisis. I call on every officer involved to stop immediately and return to the constitutional duty of impartial service.”, Atiku stated
Blaming the current administration for this breach of peace, Atiku said, “For three and a half years, the Tinubu administration has devoted too much energy to weakening credible opposition and too little to solving the problems facing Nigerians. It has pursued a politics of absorption and intimidation, while drawing former opposition figures into the APC and narrowing the space for political competition. The aim is to reduce Nigeria to a one party state in all but name.
“The government is afraid of the people’s verdict. It has unleashed a crushing cost of living crisis and now appears determined to frustrate Nigerians’ democratic right to choose a different path. Food, transport, fuel, electricity and other essentials have become unaffordable for millions. Families are struggling to feed their children, pay school fees and keep their businesses alive. That is the record this government should be defending before the people, instead of trying to stop a rally.
“I will make life affordable again. We will support local production, strengthen food production, create jobs and reduce the cost of doing business. We will pursue a targeted production subsidy tied to fuel refined in Nigeria, so that support reaches consumers through measurable relief while also strengthening domestic industry. Nigerians deserve policies that put food on the table, restore opportunity and make daily life manageable again.
“The APC has still not recovered from the abysmal failure of its last rally in Kaduna. It should have taken that as a warning that Nigerians are withdrawing their confidence. Instead, it has chosen intimidation and obstruction. These are the last kicks of a dying horse. The more this government tries to silence the people, the clearer it becomes that it has already lost their confidence”, he said .
The ADC Presidential candidate said that “The 2027 general election will be a defining moment in our democratic history. This is more than a contest between parties or candidates. It is a choice between a government that has shown indifference to people’s suffering and Nigerians who have endured enough and want their votes to count.
“The ADC will resist every gimmick, administrative roadblock and underhand manoeuvre designed to exclude the opposition or impose a one party reality on Nigeria. We will not be intimidated into silence or irrelevance. Our campaign will proceed, and I will be in Sokoto tomorrow, God willing, to address the good people of the state.
“I call on the people of Sokoto to remain calm and peaceful. Do not allow anyone to provoke you or turn a political gathering into a security crisis. I also urge the security agencies to protect commuters, residents and rally participants without favour. The authorities must ensure that our rally can hold peacefully and without interference.”
According to Atiku, “To the voters of Nigeria, remain resolute. Stand your ground. Democratic freedom is not a gift from any government. It is your right. Do not allow anyone to intimidate you or checkmate your will.
“As the Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, I give you my word: I will lead this campaign and I will not abandon the field. We will confront every attempt to restrict democratic participation with firmness, organisation and faith in the Nigerian people.
“The ADC will stand with officers who refuse to be used against democracy and who remain faithful to the Constitution. Those who choose to betray their duty and collude in the suppression of political freedom will be held accountable under the law.
“Nigeria belongs to its people, not to any party or temporary occupant of power. We will defend that truth and the people’s right to choose.
Meanwhile , the chairman of the PDP states chairman’s forum, Austin Nwachukwu said at a meeting with the party’s National Working Committee, NWC at the PDP National Secretariat that the APC governors are intimidating and harassing members of the party in their states
According to Nwachukwu, “l just want to use opportunity to also bring to the notice of our National Working Committee that some states in the country, especially where we don’t have APC governors, are very antagonistic to our candidates and members.
“We have painstakingly produced very good candidates for the forthcoming elections and this is not going well with the governors of some states.
“For example, last week, the forum leadership was forced to go to Ebonyi State to address a draconian issue that have been brewing there, where intimidation, harassment, arrest, killings have become the order of the day, under the watch of the governor of Ebonyi state, His Excellency, Governor Nwifuru.
“We made a presentation, and with me here is a copy of the petition that we’re unfolding to the Inspector General of Police today, and to other relevant security agencies, the killings and harassment of our candidates and governorship candidate, especially in various states of the country, must stop.”, the chairman of the PDP states chairmen forum stated
He said that “the forum will not take it lightly anymore if any of our candidates are harassed, intimidated, or killed because of mere elections. It’s a contest. Winner must emerge.
“So on that notes, my colleagues, on the National Working Committee, I want to welcome all of us to this meeting and wish us a very happy deliberations. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Chairman”, Nwachukwu stated
The national chairman of the party, Abdulrahman Mohammed assured that the party will look into their petition.
He also assured the states chairmen of the party that the PDP is very much in the party as all their candidates have been recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC
He boasted that the party nominated candidates at all levels that are capable of winning any election.