African Democratic Congress presidential candidate and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of being determined to either have his way in the 2027 presidential election or destroy Nigeria’s democracy, following the FCT minister’s decision to threaten event centers in Abuja against hosting a PDP convention to affirm its presidential candidate.

In a statement issued by his media office, Atiku described FCT Minister Nyesom Wike’s intervention against the PDP as reprehensible and a manifestation of a broader pattern of political interference through public institutions aimed at weakening opposition parties. He said private and public facilities in the Federal Capital Territory existed to serve all Nigerians regardless of political affiliation, and that denying a legitimate political activity access to such venues was discriminatory and a violation of the constitutional guarantees of freedom of association and peaceful assembly.

Atiku said the ADC had itself experienced the same pattern of interference during its national convention held in April, and that a sponsored faction of the ADC had subsequently been allowed to hold a public event in the FCT without any threat of consequences. He said this double standard demonstrated that the Tinubu administration was selectively using the FCT administration as an instrument against genuine opposition.

He accused the government of fear of free and fair elections and declared that tactics to suppress the opposition would not succeed. He called on Wike to immediately stop the unconstitutional action and grant all opposition parties unfettered access to public and private facilities for legitimate political activities.

He also called on democratic stakeholders, civil society organizations, and well-meaning Nigerians to resist what he described as creeping authoritarianism before it further eroded the foundations of Nigeria’s republic.