Udochukwu Nnadi

Atiku accuses DSS of plotting to disrupt ADC rally in Sokoto ABUJA — Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the leadership of the Department of State Services, DSS, of recruiting protesters to create disorder in Sokoto and provide a pretext for imposing a curfew to stop the party’s campaign rally. Atiku said the alleged plot was part of a broader attempt by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to frustrate opposition parties, undermine political competition and deny Nigerians the freedom to choose their leaders ahead of the 2027 general election. Briefing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the former vice president alleged that public facilities meant for campaign activities had been blocked and logistical support withheld in Sokoto, describing the developments as deliberate efforts to deny the ADC a level playing field. He said information available to the party indicated that protesters were being mobilised from an office behind Zenith Bank on Koko Road, with trucks deployed to strategic locations, including a roundabout. According to him, the protesters were causing gridlock, threatening commuters and beating some residents, while some had moved away from the roundabout to find shade. “This is not intelligence work. It is political interference dressed in official uniform,” Atiku said. “Security agencies exist to protect Nigerians and uphold the law, not to recruit protesters or help a political party manufacture a crisis.” He called on security officers allegedly involved in the mobilisation to stop immediately and return to their constitutional duty of impartial service. Atiku accused the Tinubu administration of devoting much of its energy over the past three and a half years to weakening credible opposition, alleging that its strategy of absorbing former opposition figures into the APC was aimed at reducing Nigeria to a one-party state in all but name. The former vice president also linked the alleged obstruction of the rally to the economic hardship facing Nigerians, saying the government should be defending its record on the rising cost of food, transport, fuel, electricity and other essentials rather than trying to stop opposition campaigns. “Families are struggling to feed their children, pay school fees and keep their businesses alive,” he said. “That is the record this government should be defending before the people, instead of trying to stop a rally.” Atiku pledged that an ADC government would make life affordable through policies to support local production, strengthen food production, create jobs and reduce the cost of doing business. He said the party would also pursue a targeted production subsidy tied to fuel refined in Nigeria, aimed at providing measurable relief to consumers while strengthening domestic industry. The ADC presidential candidate accused the APC of resorting to intimidation and obstruction after what he described as the failure of its last rally in Kaduna, saying the party should have taken the outcome as a warning that Nigerians were withdrawing their confidence. “These are the last kicks of a dying horse,” Atiku said. “The more this government tries to silence the people, the clearer it becomes that it has already lost their confidence.” Atiku said the 2027 general election would be a defining moment in Nigeria’s democratic history, insisting that the contest was not merely between political parties or candidates but between a government he accused of indifference to citizens’ suffering and Nigerians determined to make their votes count. He vowed that the ADC would resist what he described as administrative roadblocks and underhand manoeuvres designed to exclude the opposition, adding that he would be in Sokoto on Wednesday to address residents. “I will be in Sokoto tomorrow, God willing, to address the good people of the state,” he said.