Former Vice President and ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has warned President Bola Tinubu that “nothing must happen” to Peter Obi, while renewing his call for the release of detained former Kaduna governor, Nasir El-Rufai.
Atiku said true democracy is measured not by how comfortably those in power wield authority, but by how safely those outside power can exercise their rights. Citing a proverb, he warned that “when the drums of injustice beat for your neighbour, do not dance, for tomorrow they may beat for you.”
In a statement by his aide, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the safety of every opposition figure is a constitutional duty of the state and a test of its democratic credentials. He stressed that an injury to one opposition leader diminishes every opposition voice, and that democracy itself becomes a casualty when citizens begin to fear for their political beliefs.
His comments follow Obi’s recent remark that he may not live to contest the 2027 presidential election, and the Presidency’s response, which Atiku criticised as resorting to insults rather than statesmanship.
Atiku argued that democratic leadership demands composure, not contempt, and that a government which meets criticism with abuse projects insecurity rather than confidence. He listed poverty, hunger, insecurity, corruption and kidnapping as Nigeria’s real enemies, insisting the opposition is not one of them.
He also renewed calls for El-Rufai’s release, saying every Nigerian is entitled to due process and the presumption of innocence, and that justice must not appear selective.
Atiku urged the Federal Government to match the urgency of its political communication with real efforts to rescue abducted Nigerians, including schoolchildren and teachers still held by kidnappers, and to restore public confidence in national security through transparency rather than propaganda.
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