Atiku Abubakar was Nigeria’s Vice President during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration
Nigeria’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed deep regret over his involvement in the merger that provided the All Progressives Congress (APC) victory in 2015. Abubakar made this comment on Thursday during a press briefing by opposition leaders in Abuja.
Reflecting on events that led to the merger of major political parties in 2014, the former presidential candidate of the PDP was to challenge the administration of then-President Goodluck Jonathan’s perceived inability to tackle insecurity and economic instability.
Abubakar said the coalition at the time was driven by fears that democratic governance was weakening and that urgent steps were needed to redirect the country’s trajectory.
Said he: “We came together in 2014 because we believed democracy was faltering. The issues then were insecurity and the economy. But today, the situation has become even worse than what we set out to correct”.
The former Vice-President argued that the present realities in the country surpassed the challenges that informed the APC’s formation more than a decade ago. He stressed that lessons must be drawn from past political alliances.
Abubakar, presently a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), warned that any fresh coalition or opposition movement must be deliberate and focused on rebuilding democratic institutions and restoring public confidence in governance. He stated: “We must ensure that whatever steps we take now are aimed at restoring true democracy in Nigeria”.
