Atiku, Who Lost To Buhari In 2019 Election, Speaks On ‘Assault On Democracy’ In America

Nigeria’s former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to events that preceded the affirmation of Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory by the United States Congress on Thursday.

The Congress’ recognition of Biden as president-elect of the U.S. ended uncertainties that hovered over America’s democracy in the last two months.

Trump’s sustained refusal to accept defeat in the November 3, 2020 election culminated in a violence on Wednesday, after his supporters invaded the U.S. Capitol Building to stop the certification of Biden by members of the U.S. Congress.

President-elect Biden had described the episode as an “unprecedent assault” on America’s democracy, adding that the violence represents, “an assault on the rule of law.”

Atiku, who had lost to President Muhammadu Buhari in Nigeria’s 2019 presidential election, said Biden’s certification by the U.S. lawmakers despite resistance from Trump’s camp was proof that strong institutions were vital to protection of democracy.

The former vice president spoke in a terse statement posted on his Twitter page on Thursday.

“Democracy, as it is often said, is a process. With the culmination of the process certifying the electoral vote of @JoeBiden as the next President of the United States, it is clear that strong institutions are vital to the sustainability of democracy

“This is a lesson to be learnt: that strong institutions and not strong personalities are the bulwark of a rich democratic culture.”

THE WHISTLER recalls that Atiku had similarly rejected the result of the 2019 presidential election after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared President Buhari as the winner of the poll.

He had appealed the outcome at the Supreme Court and described the election as the “worst in Nigeria’s democratic history”.