By Luminous Jannamike
ABUJA — Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, yesterday warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and the Federal Government against using state institutions to tilt the Osun governorship election in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Atiku described the poll as a critical test of Nigeria’s democratic credentials, warning that the scale and posture of security deployment around the election risked making a civil democratic exercise look like a military operation.
Speaking at the ADC National Youth Leadership Summit in Abuja, he said the conduct of the Osun election would send a strong signal about Nigeria’s readiness to deliver credible elections ahead of the next general election.
“Elections are civil engagements, not military operations. Ballot papers are not bullets. Voters are not enemy combatants. Opposition members are not insurgents,” he said.
