Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has renewed calls for accountability regarding the October 2020 Lekki Toll Gate shooting, stating that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) owes Nigerians answers six years after the incident.
Atiku, in a Tuesday statement marking the sixth anniversary of the EndSARS protests, emphasized that the country is still waiting to discover who authorized the military action against peaceful demonstrators.
He stressed that six years later, a critical question remains unanswered by the government: “Six years after the Lekki shooting, Nigeria is still waiting for a clear answer to one devastating question: Who gave the order?”
Atiku also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s response to the incident, recalling remarks the president made in October 2020 when he questioned the presence and conduct of protesters who suffered casualties.
“At a moment when Nigerians were demanding accountability for the violence against peaceful protesters, his response appeared more concerned with questioning the victims than demanding answers from those responsible,” he wrote.
According to Atiku, the country’s failure to provide satisfactory answers has deepened public distrust, leaving families seeking justice and young Nigerians frustrated over how the incident was handled.
He said, “The anger trending across the country today is not a social media performance. It is grief that has been left to harden into distrust.
“It is the pain of families still demanding answers, and of young people who watched their calls for dignity meet violence and then watched the country move on without the truth they deserve.
“The APC has governed Nigeria through these six years. It cannot keep asking Nigerians to remember the dead while refusing to confront the unanswered questions.
“A government that cannot give citizens confidence that their lives matter has failed one of its most basic duties.”
Atiku cited the rising cost of petrol, which he put at N1,405 per litre, saying the increase had made it more difficult for households to afford food, rent, education and transportation.
To illustrate the pressure on workers, Atiku recounted an account from one of his aides about a young woman who reportedly resigned from her job because her salary could no longer cover her transport costs.
Quoting the woman, he said: “The pay no longer covers transport. Everything in Nigeria just dey increase in price. Feels like I’m working for Bolt guys.”
Atiku described the situation as evidence of an economy in which even some employed Nigerians were struggling to afford the cost of getting to work.
He said his Economic Recovery Plan was designed to address the hardship through measures including support linked to fuel refined in Nigeria, increased local production, protection for minimum-wage earners, student support and reductions in government waste.
“This is precisely the hardship my Economic Recovery Plan is designed to address, with one overriding objective: to Make Nigeria Affordable Again.
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“My policy response is built around relief people can feel: support tied to fuel refined in Nigeria, with the savings passed on to consumers; more local production to create jobs; protection for minimum wage earners and student support; and funding these measures by cutting waste instead of imposing new taxes, he wrote”
Atiku added that young Nigerians deserved the truth about the Lekki shooting and an economy that gave them a fair chance to build their future.
“Six years on, the APC has had ample time to answer for its record. Nigerians are entitled to ask why the answers and the opportunities are still missing,” he said.
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