Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has regretted his role in the 2014 political coalition that led to the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He lamented that the country’s situation presently has deteriorated beyond what it was when the alliance was formed.
Atiku spoke Thursday in Abuja at an opposition stakeholder meeting convened to deliberate on reforms to the new Electoral Act and the state of Nigeria’s democracy.
Reflecting on the events that led to the merger of opposition parties in 2014, he said the coalition was born out of concerns that democracy was faltering at the time.
“We were without caution, you see, we did this exercise in 2014. We came together and formed APC because we felt democracy was faulty in 2014,” he said.
He noted that the current realities in the country mirror, and in his view, surpassed the challenges that prompted the merger over a decade ago.
He said, “Only for us to end up in the same situation we found ourselves in 2014, even worse. In 2014, the major challenge was insecurity here and there, economy and so on and so forth. Now it is even worse than what we fought in 2014.”
The former vice president noted the need for renewed unity among opposition forces to safeguard Nigeria’s democratic process, particularly in light of ongoing debates around electoral reforms.
“We must have that in mind that we must succeed to make sure that we restore true democracy in our country,” Atiku said.
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