Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly condemned the Federal Government over the prosecution of Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, and the arrest of Prof. Usman Yusuf.
Sowore was arraigned by the police on Wednesday on a 16-count charge, including allegations of cybercrime. One of the charges alleged that he referred to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, as an “illegal IG.”
Reacting to the development, Atiku took to his official X handle to describe the prosecution as baseless, warning that Tinubu’s government is systematically harassing and intimidating opposition voices.
“The arrest and baseless prosecution of @YeleSowore is the latest chapter in this unrelenting campaign. Now, they have seen fit to add Professor Usman Yusuf—an outspoken critic of this administration—into their grim roster. At the pace they are going, it seems they may soon find themselves contending with the incarceration of every one of us,” Atiku wrote.
Prof. Usman Yusuf, a former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday, January 28, 2025, over allegations of a N4 billion fraud.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election, stated that the Tinubu administration is orchestrating a one-party autocracy through intimidation and suppression of dissenting voices.
“When I made the clarion call that Tinubu and the APC were devoting their energies to the systematic harassment, intimidation, and dismantling of the opposition, all in service of their grand design for a one-party autocracy, I became the target of vicious attacks,” he said.
The arrest of opposition figures and vocal critics of the government has sparked widespread concerns over the state of democracy in Nigeria. Civil society organizations have called for transparency and justice in handling these cases, urging the government to respect the rights of all citizens.
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