By MBACHU GODWIN, Abuja
Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has charged Nigerians to resist attempts by the All Progressive Congress, APC, government for State Capture and to silence opposition in the country.
Atiku , who was represented by a former member of thevhouse of Representatives, Hon Nnenna Ukeje made the charge on Friday at the African Democratic Congress, Coalition Political Action Committee ( COPAC), democracy Day conversation. COPAC is a support group for mobilizing support for the party ahead of the 2027 general election
He noted that democracy has not translated into prosperity , adding that Nigerians are worst off than the past three years
“We possess democratic institutions, yet too many of them appear weaponised against the very people they were created to protect. We have a robust politics, but governance is plainly absent. We celebrate democracy, while a hollowed-out version is served to us daily marked by constitutional overreach, creeping illiberalism, and a stubborn refusal to submit to the checks of accountability.
Our ambitious annual budgets have become rituals honoured more in the breach than in the observance. At a time when our country faces the gravest security challenge in its history, only 7.11 per cent of the defence budget has been accessed. Democracy, sadly, has not translated into prosperity.
“Most heartbreaking of all is the mounting insecurity that has turned parts of our country into a land of terror, bloodletting, and mourning. Our citizens are cut down by the day in this senseless tide of violence. Our brave but overstretched military and security agencies bear the brunt of our collective failure to support them — with sustainable policies, with the vital non-kinetic instruments of this war, and with the resources this fight demands.
Under President Tinubu’s watch, we have lost gallant generals, soldiers, and other security personnel in the struggle against insurgency and banditry.
Today we mourn the dedicated teachers who have been murdered or taken hostage, caught in the cross-hairs of a conflict that seems to defy every solution. We remember the innocent schoolchildren snatched from their classrooms and communities across the country — some killed, many still held in captivity — while their parents wait, hope, and pray for a deliverance that does not come. Insecurity now threatens the very fabric of cohesion that any nation must rely upon to build its future.
“Since this administration came into office, a painful pattern has hardened into something close to normality: wave after wave of abductions, ransom, and killing, carried out with ever greater audacity. Unchecked criminality pervades our land, and terrorism has taken root and continues to spread. This escalating violence has turned our citadels of learning into places of fear. Our children — the very future of Nigeria — are paying the heaviest price for a failure of leadership.
My fellow Nigerians, to the question so often asked — are the lives of ordinary citizens better today than when President Tinubu took office? — the honest answer for millions is unmistakable: we are far worse off than we were, and no amount of economic narrative can disguise it. This is the painful reality that must change.
“We need a President who is truly patriotic and genuinely empathetic; who understands the struggles and suffering of our citizens, and who carries the experience and the solutions to confront them. We need a President who can balance pragmatism with principle, who knows the difference between politics and governance, and who understands a simple truth: insecurity is not defeated with press releases and platitudes. It is confronted and defeated head-on — with implementable budgets, sound policy, commitment, consistency, engagement, accountability, empathy, drive, and justice.
“Our nation deserves a committed Commander-in-Chief who will never neglect his most sacred constitutional duty: the protection of the lives and property of the citizens of Nigeria. My fellow citizens, this can never be the democracy that our founding fathers and our heroes believed in, fought for, and died for.
“The task I seek is not merely to name our problems or to apportion blame for them. I offer a genuine and proven alternative — a path of competence, compassion, integrity, and decisive action. I offer a new direction, and a clean departure from failure.
Together, you and I, we will confront insecurity decisively. We will take back our country, downgrade insurgency and banditry, secure our schools, protect our communities, and enable our farmers to feed the nation without fear.
“We offer action, not excuses; and we are ready to shoulder this daunting task, whatever it may demand.
An ADC federal government will bring the cost-of-living crisis to an end through urgent, practical interventions that restore dignity to the hardworking and innovative citizens of our country. We will secure our food supply, and we will tackle wage stagnation in realistic ways and on credible timelines.
Abroad, we will restore Nigeria’s pride and stature as the leader of our sub-region, a leader on our continent, and a respected power in the wider world through a confident foreign policy that places Nigeria’s best interests at the centre of every international engagement.
“At home, we will restore dignity to our institutions by guaranteeing a truly independent legislature and judiciary, an independent INEC and Central Bank, and security agencies that are properly funded and equipped. We will reclaim our institutions so that they function as democracy intends — offering checks and balances, protecting the guardrails of democratic practice, and safeguarding the freedom of every Nigerian to speak, to dissent, and to thrive.
“This is my solemn covenant with you. We are pregnant with a new Nigeria, one that will be born come May of next year: a nation where hope is not a slogan, but a living, breathing, and achievable reality.
My fellow countrymen and women, let this Democracy Day mark the beginning of our collective turning point. Let us raise our voices against the steady retreat of democratic practice. Let us stand firm against every attempt to silence the opposition and to criminalise those who demand accountability. Let us resist the pain of state capture, and embrace a new dawn driven by the power of the people. Let us choose unity over division, competence over excuses, and genuine leadership in 2027.
“We are ready to reclaim our country, to rebuild our institutions, to protect our children, to carry nation-building beyond rhetoric, to heal our fault-lines, and to reunite our people into one secure, prosperous, and just nation, the nation we all deserve”
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