Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has told President Bola Tinubu to go beyond the superficial gesture of sharing bags of rice and spaghetti to Nigerians and work on repositioning the economy, saying sharing rice ro citizens will not save the president electoral humiliation in 2027.
Atiku said currently, Nigeria’s democracy is being systematically weakened by a dangerous consolidation of power under President Tinubu.
In a statement released Tuesday in Abuja by Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant to Atiku Abubakar on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president said “what is unfolding is not subtle – it is deliberate.”
According to the statement, at a time when over 30 state governors have been drawn into the ruling party’s orbit, one would expect confidence, openness and a willingness to face genuine electoral competition. Instead, what Nigerians are witnessing is the opposite: a growing pattern of actions that suggest not strength, but fear – fear of credible opposition, fear of free competition, and fear of the Nigerian voter.
“Why would a government with such overwhelming political control still feel compelled to shrink the democratic space? The answer is becoming increasingly clear.
“Beyond coercing governors and political heavyweights into its fold, the Tinubu administration already commands the instruments of state power – the security architecture, the advantage of incumbency, access to the national treasury, the perceived sympathy of segments of the judiciary, and a pliable electoral environment. Yet, despite this overwhelming dominance, there remains a visible anxiety about the opposition and, more importantly, about the Nigerian people.
“Because deep down, they know this truth: stomach infrastructure cannot substitute for public trust. Bags of rice, spaghetti, and indomie may offer temporary relief, but they cannot secure legitimacy at the ballot box. This attempt to reconfigure Nigeria to ‘Rice-geria’ will not help these urban bandits, it will end in shame.
“Opposition parties have been destabilised by persistent internal crises, many of which have been sustained through conflicting and questionable judicial interventions. Court processes have, in critical moments, produced outcomes that blur legal hierarchy and create confusion rather than clarity.
“Electoral processes have not been spared. Administrative decisions and interpretations have increasingly raised concerns about neutrality, reinforcing a perception that key institutions are being aligned, subtly but steadily, in favour of the ruling establishment.
“More troubling is the growing resort to crass and reckless detention orders targeted at opposition figures—actions that raise serious concerns about the misuse of state power to intimidate, silence, or sideline dissenting voices.
“These are not coincidences. They are signals”, he said.
Atiku, who is a prominent figure in the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) said across the political spectrum, leading figures – including himself, Rotimi Amaechi, Peter Obi, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Abubakar Malami, Nasir El-Rufai, David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola among others – were navigating a political environment that is becoming visibly constrained, saying “this is not how a healthy democracy functions”.
“Let it be said plainly: a democracy where the ruling party amasses overwhelming control and still works to weaken the opposition is a democracy in distress.
“Atiku Abubakar remains committed to a Nigeria where leadership is determined by the will of the people – not by pressure on institutions, not by engineered party instability, not by the quiet rewriting of the rules of engagement, and certainly not by crass and reckless detention orders on opposition leaders.
“Democracy must not be reduced to a managed process.
“If the current trajectory continues, Nigeria risks sliding into a system where elections exist in name but competition is effectively neutralised—a one-party state in all but name.
“We call on Nigerians to recognise what is at stake. Power must never be so concentrated that it fears accountability. Leadership must never be so secure that it avoids contest.
