Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has returned to Nigeria following a brief trip abroad, even as he continues to speak out against what he described as the Tinubu administration’s systematic campaign to weaken opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
His return was announced late Saturday by former presidential aide Lauretta Onochie, who confirmed the development in a Facebook post, welcoming the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential hopeful back home.
The ex-vice president’s arrival coincides with his sharp reaction to a Federal High Court ruling in Lokoja, Kogi State, which set aside an earlier judgment that had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) as a political party.
Justice Isah Dashen, who delivered the ruling on Friday, held that the December 10, 2025 judgment had adversely affected the rights of the Peace Movement Party, which was not a party to the original suit.
Atiku, in a statement issued Saturday by his media office, described the judicial move to deregister the NDC as proof that President Bola Tinubu is determined to foist a one-party state on Nigeria. He argued that the President fears a free and fair electoral contest in 2027 and is resorting to anti-democratic tactics to eliminate competition.
He warned that any attempt to curtail citizens’ right to freely participate in credible elections strikes at the heart of democracy and could trigger chaos and anarchy if left unchecked.
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