Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has raised the alarm over the incapacity of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to conduct free, fair and credible elections in 2027, following the forgery of the controversial tax laws.

“A government capable of forging or tampering with laws cannot be trusted to conduct free and fair elections in 2027. Nothing better captures the decay of this government than the scandal of a forged tax law, shamelessly branded a ‘reform’, said Mr Abubakar in a New Year statement on Thursday. “Even more disturbing was the President’s refusal to allow due legislative and legal processes to address what is clearly a criminal act.”

Mr Abubakar noted that for millions of long-suffering Nigerians, the only consolation “is that 2025, one of the most punishing years in our recent history, has come to an end”.

“It was a year defined by economic suffocation, political recklessness, and governance without empathy under the All Progressives Congress (@OfficialAPCNg) administration.

“The past year exposed, in stark terms, the incompetence and policy bankruptcy of President Bola Tinubu. Governing for months without a functional budget, the administration relied on propaganda while borrowing recklessly, pushing the nation to the brink of economic collapse,” the former vice-president explained.

While accusing the All Progressives Congress of working to deform Nigeria’s multiparty democracy into a de facto one-party state through coercion, intimidation and state capture, the politician decried worsening insecurity and national debt.

“While drowning the nation in debt, the government falsely claimed to have met revenue targets. Meanwhile, insecurity worsened dramatically. Kidnappings, abductions, and violent crimes surged, affecting citizens, young and old alike. Lives were lost, livelihoods destroyed, and communities terrorised, while government assurances rang hollow,” Mr Abubakar stated.

The former vice-president pointed out the current administration spoke endlessly of economic recovery, yet unemployment, underemployment, labour unrest and collapsing small businesses defined the year 2025, adding industries shut down, workers sent home, hunger spread and suffering normalised.

Mr Abubakar also accused the president of arrogance and contempt for public opinion.

“Citizens are repeatedly told to ‘make sacrifices’. Sacrifice is patriotic—but it becomes cruel when demanded by leaders who live extravagantly, insulated from the suffering of the people. Leadership without shared pain is not leadership; it is exploitation.

“Small businesses, the backbone of job creation, are collapsing. Workers are losing jobs. Yet those in power prioritise comfort over conscience. This contradicts every principle of democratic governance.

“The arrogance of this administration is unprecedented. Its contempt for public opinion, its hostility to criticism, and its willingness to punish Nigerians through bad policies reveal a government fundamentally hostile to the people. Never in our recent history have we seen an administration so openly dismissive of public sentiment, so casual in breaking laws, and so reckless with democratic norms,” stated the ADC politician.

The former vice-president urged Nigerians to “remain steadfast in the face of these hardships”, pointing out that “this is one of the most painful New Year messages I have ever written, fully aware of the despair confronting millions due to the callous and soulless policies of the Tinubu-led APC government”.

Mr Abubakar added, “Let us vote out hunger, insecurity, unemployment, dishonesty, corruption, abductions, lies, and propaganda. Nigeria deserves better. Nigerians deserve dignity.”