Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) nominee for president in the 2023 elections, has once again expressed concern about attempts by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to use deceit to undermine Nigeria’s democracy.
He said the party’s “snatch, grab and run” agenda of opposition parties’ mandates is inimical to democracy.
Atiku spoke through his Media Adviser, Mazi Paul Ibe, in a statement, in Abuja, on Monday.
He explained that the ideal notion of democracy does not just reside in a representative government but is essentially rooted in the plurality of ideas.
Thus, for a system to be seen as truly democratic, it must necessarily accommodate opposition and opposing views.
Atiku said, “Sadly and suddenly, we have seen a trend whereby the range of opposition engagement continues to be narrowed by the ruling party in Nigeria.
“Either through the electoral process where opposition parties are rigged out with brazen impunity, or during the post-election court processes where the judiciary is conspicuously doing the biddings of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), it has become increasingly apparent that the democracy in Nigeria is in a state of ill-health.
“It gets more curious that all the states where the courts have made controversial declarations are states being controlled by the opposition political parties.
“From Nassarawa, Kano, Zamfara and now to Plateau State, where we are witnessing a situation in which what the ruling party missed out on Election Day are being delivered to them through the courts.