Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has given an account of the personal losses he suffered in his quest to defend the nation’s democracy.
He said that during the military era, nine policemen guarding his Kaduna home were killed in a botched attempt to assassinate him while he was also forced into exile for nine months.
Atiku further recounted how his interest in a logistics company he co-owned was confiscated and given to friends of the military government.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said this during a World Press Conference he held in Abuja on Monday to officially react to last week’s Supreme Court judgement dismissing his appeal against the February 25 election of President Bola Tinubu.
“At critical points in my political life, I always ignored the easy but ignoble path and chosen the difficult but dignified path, the path of truth, of morality, of democracy and rule of law.
“I always chose freedom over servitude, whatever the personal discomforts my choice entails. When I joined politics, the critical challenge was easing the military out of power so that civilian democratic governance could be restored in Nigeria. It later became a very defining struggle, and, as one of the leaders of that struggle, I was targeted for elimination.
“In one incident, nine policemen guarding my home in Kaduna were murdered in an attempt to assassinate me. I was also forced into exile for nine (9) months.
“In addition, my interest in a logistics company that I co-owned was confiscated and given to friends of the military government.
“As Vice President in the civilian government that succeeded the military, I, again at great personal cost, chose to oppose the extension of the tenure of the government beyond the two four-year terms enshrined in our constitution.
“In response to the official backlash against me, I instituted several cases in the courts, which led to seven landmark decisions that helped to deepen our democracy and rule of law,” Atiku said.
Meanwhile, Atiku lamented that despite showing “incontrovertible evidence” that Tinubu was not qualified to contest the election, the Supreme Court still dismissed his suit.