Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has accused the leadership of the Department of State Services of recruiting people to stage protests in Sokoto State.
Addressing a press conference on Monday in Abuja, Atiku said the move is part of a calculated effort to create disorder, give the APC-controlled state government a pretext to impose a curfew and prevent the ADC campaign take-off from holding as scheduled.
He claimed public facilities that should be available to every political party have been blocked and logistical support withheld. These, he said, are deliberate attempts to deny the ADC a level playing field.
According to the information available to him, some of the protesters are assembled at an office behind Zenith Bank on Koko Road. Trucks are stationed there and dispatched to key points, including the roundabout. The mobilised protesters are causing gridlock, threatening and in some cases beating commuters. Some have moved away from the roundabout to find shade.
“This is not intelligence work. It is political interference dressed in official uniform,” Atiku said. “Security agencies exist to protect Nigerians and uphold the law, not to recruit protesters or help a political party manufacture a crisis. I call on every officer involved to stop immediately and return to the constitutional duty of impartial service.”
He linked the developments in Sokoto to what he described as a wider pattern under the Tinubu administration. For three and a half years, he said, the government has devoted too much energy to weakening credible opposition and too little to solving the problems facing Nigerians. It has pursued a politics of absorption and intimidation while drawing former opposition figures into the APC and narrowing the space for political competition.
The aim, according to him, is to reduce Nigeria to a one-party state in all but name. The government is afraid of the people’s verdict, he added, after unleashing a crushing cost of living crisis that has made food, transport, fuel and electricity unaffordable for millions.
“I will make life affordable again. We will support local production, strengthen food production, create jobs and reduce the cost of doing business,” Atiku stated. “We will pursue a targeted production subsidy tied to fuel refined in Nigeria, so that support reaches consumers through measurable relief while also strengthening domestic industry.”
He noted that the APC has still not recovered from the failure of its last rally in Kaduna and should have taken that as a warning. Instead, it has chosen intimidation and obstruction. “These are the last kicks of a dying horse. The more this government tries to silence the people, the clearer it becomes that it has already lost their confidence.”
Atiku insisted the 2027 general election will be a defining moment. It is a choice between a government that has shown indifference to people’s suffering and Nigerians who have endured enough and want their votes to count.
The ADC will resist every gimmick, administrative roadblock and underhand manoeuvre designed to exclude the opposition, he said. The campaign will proceed, and he will be in Sokoto the following day, God willing, to address the people of the state.
He called on the people of Sokoto to remain calm and peaceful and not allow anyone to provoke them or turn a political gathering into a security crisis. He also urged the security agencies to protect commuters, residents and rally participants without favour.
“To the voters of Nigeria, remain resolute. Stand your ground. Democratic freedom is not a gift from any government. It is your right. Do not allow anyone to intimidate you or checkmate your will,” he said.
As the presidential candidate of the ADC, Atiku gave his word that he will lead the campaign and will not abandon the field. The party will stand with officers who refuse to be used against democracy and remain faithful to the Constitution. Those who choose to betray their duty and collude in the suppression of political freedom will be held accountable under the law.
“Nigeria belongs to its people, not to any party or temporary occupant of power. We will defend that truth and the people’s right to choose.”
