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Buhari government unworthy of June 12 celebration, says Atiku

By Dennis Erezi
12 June 2019   |   2:56 pm
The presidential candidate of the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar Wednesday said President Muhammadu Buhari's government is unworthy of celebrating June 12 as Nigeria's Democracy Day. "It is not enough to declare June 12 a Democracy Day when the government of the day is disrespectful of the rule of law and wantonly disregards…

The presidential candidate of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar Wednesday said President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is unworthy of celebrating June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day.

“It is not enough to declare June 12 a Democracy Day when the government of the day is disrespectful of the rule of law and wantonly disregards court orders on issues that border on fundamental human rights,” Atiku said in his Democracy Day message.

Atiku, who was Nigeria’s vice president from 1999 till 2007, said, the Buhari government failed to deliver the change it promised Nigerians in his first tenure as president.

The former vice president opined that Nigeria’s current standing as the global headquarters of extreme poverty does not portray the ‘HOPE 93’ agenda Moshood Abiola’s campaign during the 1993 annulled presidential election stood for.

He said Nigeria under Buhari has become a country where citizens are uncertain of the sanctity of their lives and availability of their next meal.

Atiku opined that the June 12 declaration was just a work-free day, saying it is not a Democracy Day when the press and citizens are denied freedom of speech.

The PDP presidential candidate, who lost to Buhari in the 2019 general election, said it is not acceptable that did not deliver the promise of change to Nigerians will lay claims to being a part of the June 12 struggle.

“Abiola didn’t mean to deceive Nigerians with a hope he could not deliver upon,” Atiku said.

He said June 12 is about the political leadership having the focus to retool the Nigerian economy, create wealth and jobs and not about the inclination for shared pains.

“So, for all true lovers of democracy, let us keep the HOPE alive,” Atiku said.

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