Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has made an allegation against President Bola Tinubu.

He accused Tinubu of dismantling Nigeria's democracy that was hard-won since the historic June 12, 1993, election.

Atiku, in a strongly worded Democracy Day statement on Thursday, described Tinubu’s government as one that governs with the intent to dominate, subdue, and silence.

While accusing Tinubu of awarding multi-billion Naira contracts to cronies and family associates, Atiku frowned at the renaming of national institutions in honour of the sitting president, as though the country is a private estate.

Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also accused Tinubu of pursuing conquest instead of governance, adding that Nigeria is teetering on the edge of a dangerous precipice.

Recalling the sacrifices made during the June 12 struggle, including his own decision to step aside for the late MKO Abiola, Atiku lamented that the ideals for which many died, including Kudirat Abiola, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, and Alfred Rewane, are being eroded.

Atiku further urged Nigerians to rise in defence of democracy, justice, and national dignity.

He said, “The ruling party and its federal government now govern with the unmistakable intent to dominate, subdue, and silence.

“Their tactics are not subtle. Opposition voices are being systematically erased. Contracts for multi-billion-naira infrastructure are funnelled to cronies and family associates of the president. National institutions, once symbols of unity, are being brazenly renamed in honour of a sitting president, as though the country were a private estate. What we are witnessing is not governance, it is conquest.

“This government represents the lowest ebb in our democratic journey. Institutions have been weaponized. Policies are crafted not to empower the people but to entrench fear, obedience, and control. The common Nigerian has been abandoned at the altar of elite comfort. And make no mistake: this is the antithesis of everything June 12 stands for.

“This is not just a political contest; it is a moral crusade.

“As long as oppression thrives, June 12 lives on, not just as memory, but as movement.”