Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president of Nigeria, has criticized the Bola Tinubu administration for prosecuting publisher Omoyele Sowore.
On Wednesday, Sowore was charged with 16 counts, including cybercrime, and was arraigned by the police. One of the accusations was that he called Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police, a “illegal IG.”
According to Atiku, Prof. Usman Yusuf, a former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), was arrested and detained, while Sowore was prosecuted for “systematic harassment and intimidation.”
The Bola Tinubu administration has come under fire from former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar for prosecuting Sahara Reporters publisher Omoyele Sowore.
On Wednesday, the police arraigned Sowore on a 16-count complaint that included accusations of cybercrime. There were several accusations, including that he called Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police, a “illegal IG.”
Prof. Usman Yusuf, a former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), was arrested and detained, and Sowore was prosecuted, which Atiku described as “systematic harassment and intimidation.”
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) arrested Yusuf on Wednesday, January 28, 2025, over alleged N4 billion fraud, amongst other allegations.
Reacting via his official X handle, Atiku described Sowore’s prosecution as baseless, adding that Tinubu’s government may soon imprison everyone who criticises his administration.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election wrote: “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.
“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,” he said.
