Group Alleges Plan to Arrest Atiku, Amaechi, el-Rufai, Warns of One-Party State

Group Alleges Plan to Arrest Atiku, Amaechi, el-Rufai, Warns of One-Party State

A civil society organisation has raised alarm over what it described as an alleged plan to arrest and detain prominent opposition figures, warning that such actions could undermine plural democracy in Nigeria and push the country toward a de facto one-party system.

In a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja, the group, led by its coordinator Adekunle O. Adebayo, alleged that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi, and former Kaduna State governor Nasir el-Rufai have been singled out for arrest.

Operating under the pro-Yoruba civic platform, “Bí a bá pa ìtàn mọ́, ìtàn á pa wa” (When truth is suppressed, it eventually destroys those who suppress it), the organisation further claimed that former ministers Isa Ali Pantami and Rauf Aregbesola, alongside Kashim Ibrahim Imam and other influential political actors, are also being targeted. It said the alleged plan follows the earlier arrests and detentions of Aminu Tambuwal, Abubakar Malami and Chris Ngige.

According to the group, the purported arrests are linked to a covert multi-agency security operation allegedly coordinated from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and executed through a task force comprising personnel from anti-corruption, intelligence, and financial-crime agencies.

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The organisation alleged that the operation represents “a political project aimed not at law enforcement, but at neutralising opposition forces, particularly within emerging coalition movements ahead of future elections.”

It further claimed that the strategy includes selective arrests, prolonged detention without formal charges, coercion of politically exposed persons to defect to the ruling party, disruption of lawful opposition activities, deliberate factionalisation of opposition parties, and the use of prolonged litigation to exhaust opposition resources.

Highlighting the reported plan against Nasir el-Rufai, the group said his administration has been under investigation for over two years without any established evidence of personal misconduct, describing the situation as emblematic of alleged selective justice.

The organisation warned that any such actions would amount to serious breaches of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), citing violations of the rights to personal liberty, freedom of association and expression, equality before the law, and judicial independence.

It stressed that the selective application of the law based on political affiliation contradicts the principles of constitutional democracy and the rule of law.

The group called on Nigerians, civil society organisations, and the international community to closely monitor developments, warning that the country risks sliding into a system where democratic institutions exist only in form, while political power is sustained through coercion and selective enforcement of justice.

Group Alleges Plan to Arrest Atiku, Amaechi, el-Rufai, Warns of One-Party State