Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, condemned the arrest and trial of rights activist, Omoyele Sowore and former Executive Secretary of the NHIS, Professor Usman Yusuf by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government.
Atiku, who was also the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, said that the Tinubu administration is deliberately targeting vocal critics with the aim to silence them.
Atiku, who stated these in his verified X handle on Thursday, stressed that the prosecution of Sowore is the latest chapter in the unrelenting campaign against the opposition.
He specifically said that the Tinubu administration and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are devoting their energies to systematic harassment, intimidation, and dismantling of the opposition, all in pursuit of their grand design for a one-party autocracy.
He noted that the invitation and subsequent detention of Sowere by the Nigeria Police Force, was part of a broader crackdown on dissent by the Tinubu-led administration, adding that the charges against Sowore were baseless.
Atiku particularly accused the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun and Tinubu Government of being complicit in in “a campaign of intimidation and suppression” against opposition voices.
The former Vice President also said that beyond Sowore, other vocal critics, including Prof. Usman Yusuf, have also been targeted by the government.
In the words of Atiku; “When I made the clarion call that Tinubu and the APC were devoting their energies to the systematic harassment, intimidation, and dismantling of the opposition, all in service of their grand design for a one-party autocracy, I became the target of vicious attacks.
“The arrest and baseless prosecution of Sowore is the latest chapter in this unrelenting campaign. Now, they have seen fit to add Professor Usman Yusuf — an outspoken critic of this administration — into their grim roster.
“At the pace they are going, it seems they may soon find themselves contending with the incarceration of every one of us,” he stressed.
