- Atiku Abubakar criticises poor voter turnout
- FCT turnout averaged below 20%
- AMAC recorded just 7.8% participation
- Former VP blames shrinking democratic space
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed deep concern over the low voter turnout recorded during Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections, describing it as a troubling sign for Nigeria’s democracy.
Reacting to the election outcome, Atiku, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said the turnout, which averaged below 20 per cent, with the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) recording just 7.8 per cent, represents a damning verdict on the state of Nigeria’s democratic system.
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In a statement shared on X by his media aide Paul Ibe, the former Vice President argued that the poor participation in the nation’s capital was neither random nor accidental.
According to him, the figures reflect a political climate weakened by intolerance, intimidation, and the gradual silencing of opposition voices.
Atiku accused the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)of pursuing policies that shrink democratic space and treat dissenting opinions as threats rather than legitimate contributions to governance.
“When citizens lose faith that their votes matter, democracy begins to die,” Atiku said.
He stressed that the situation goes beyond voter apathy, describing it as a direct outcome of governance that suppresses pluralism.
“What we are witnessing is not mere voter apathy. It is the consequence of an administration that governs with a chokehold on pluralism. Democracy in Nigeria is being suffocated, slowly, steadily, and dangerously,”he added.
The former presidential candidate warned that continued erosion of participatory governance could cause irreversible damage to Nigeria’s democratic foundations.
“A democracy without vibrant opposition, free political competition, and public confidence is democracy in name only. If this chokehold is not released, history will remember this era as the time our hard-won freedoms were traded for fear and conformity,” Atiku stated.