Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has attributed the low voter turnout recorded in Saturday’s area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to what he described as a political atmosphere “poisoned by intolerance, intimidation, and the systematic weakening of opposition voices”.

In a statement issued on Sunday by his media office in Abuja, the former vice-president accused the President Bola Tinubu-led administration of deliberately shrinking Nigeria’s democratic space.

“When citizens lose faith that their votes matter, democracy begins to die,” the statement reads.

“What we are witnessing is not mere voter apathy. It is a direct consequence of an administration that governs with a chokehold on pluralism. Democracy in Nigeria is being suffocated slowly, steadily, and dangerously.”

Abubakar cautioned that the continued erosion of participatory governance could cause lasting damage to the nation’s democratic foundations if not urgently addressed.

“A democracy without vibrant opposition, without free political competition, and without public confidence is democracy in name only,” he said.

“If this chokehold is not released, history will record this era as the period when our hard-won freedoms were traded for fear and conformity.”

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain further called on opposition parties to unite and close ranks in order to “build” Nigeria and strengthen democratic institutions.

In the election outcome, the All Progressives Congress (APC) recorded a sweeping performance, winning five of the six chairmanship seats, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) clinched victory in the Gwagwalada area council.

However, the ADC, regarded as the coalition platform of opposition leaders, failed to secure any chairmanship seat in the polls.