June 12: Atiku hits Tinubu, says democracy backsliding to ‘civilian autocracy’

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of undermining Nigeria’s democratic institutions and shrinking the political space ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Atiku said this in his Democracy Day message issued on Thursday, June 11, 2026.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate said Nigerians should mark June 12 not only as a celebration of democratic rule but also as a moment of reflection on what he described as a growing threat to constitutional governance and political freedoms under the Tinubu administration.

The former vice president, however, alleged that opposition political parties had come under sustained pressure through what he termed manufactured leadership crises, orchestrated defections, political intimidation, and the misuse of state institutions.

Atiku said government agencies that should operate independently have increasingly been deployed to weaken opposition voices and strengthen the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“What ought to be a celebration of freedom, popular sovereignty, and constitutional governance has instead become an occasion for sober reflection on the steady dismantling of the very ideals that inspired our struggle against military dictatorship,” Atiku stated.

Atiku further alleged that the Electoral Act 2026 contains provisions that favour the ruling APC and warned that freedoms of speech, association, and the press were facing unprecedented challenges.

The former vice president also expressed concern that the Tinubu administration could attempt to influence the outcome of the 2027 general election, stressing that democracy must be continuously defended and not taken for granted.

He also reflected on the historic June 12, 1993 presidential election, stating that he stepped aside to enable the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola emerge as the Social Democratic Party’s presidential candidate and eventual winner of the annulled poll.

Atiku paid tribute to prominent figures who sacrificed for the restoration of democracy, including MKO Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, Pa Alfred Rewane, and Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, as well as journalists, students, activists and ordinary Nigerians who participated in the pro-democracy movement.

June 12: How my businesses were confiscated, survived assassination plot for rejecting military rule ― Atiku

The former vice president warned that Nigeria now faces what he described as an “increasingly authoritarian civilian order,” arguing that democratic institutions are being weakened while dissenting voices are being silenced.

He cited what he called a shrinking civic space, intimidation of opposition figures, a compromised electoral environment and worsening economic hardship as indicators of democratic decline.

Atiku said: “Today, twenty-seven years after the military returned to the barracks, Nigeria finds itself confronted by a different but equally dangerous threat: the emergence of an increasingly authoritarian civilian order.

“Unlike military dictatorship, which ruled by decrees and brute force, this new authoritarianism seeks legitimacy through institutions it has steadily captured and weakened. Its methods may be more sophisticated, but its objective is the same: the concentration of power, the silencing of dissent, and the subversion of the will of the people.”

He, therefore, called on political parties, civil society groups, labour unions, professional associations, youth organisations and other stakeholders to unite in protecting democratic values and resisting what he termed authoritarian tendencies.

“The task before us transcends partisan politics. It is a national duty,” Atiku said, urging Nigerians to honour the legacy of June 12 by standing against bad governance, political intimidation, and democratic backsliding.