Nigeria on verge of losing democracy, says Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned that Nigeria is on the verge of losing its hard-fought democracy if it does not retrace its steps.

Atiku made this declaration on Monday at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy, and Development (Centre LSD), the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA), and the National Peace Committee (NPC).

The former vice president cited instances where courts decide candidates or winners of elections, not the people.

“We are at a crossroads in this democratic experiment. We either decide we want to be democratic or we decide to abandon it,” he said.

Atiku noted that paramount before the nation is to see how the National Assembly, through various laws and legislations, can help ensure the objective of sustaining Nigeria’s democracy is achieved.

He recalled that he made some recommendations on the amendment of the Electoral Act in ‘good faith’ even though he knew they would not be considered.

He cited an example of how the Turkish electoral body refused to declare President Recep Erdogan the winner after he fell short by 0.5% of the votes, having polled 49.5%. The country’s constitution demands a minimum of 50% for anyone to be declared the winner.

Atiku said he wonders if Nigeria’s electoral umpire can do the same.