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Atiku to Amaechi: Don’t abandon me now! We’ve a duty to save Nigeria!
A conciliatory Atiku Abubakar, in magnanimity with victory, extended the olive branch to Rotimi Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, the pair he defeated on Wednesday night to clinch the ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for next year’s presidential election.
He appealed to both men never to abandon the party ahead of the election, scheduled for January 2027, but to close ranks to ensure victory for both party, Nigeria as a country and the people currently under the bondage of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Extending the olive branch shortly after being handed the party flag, officially declaring him as the candidate, he said: “I therefore appeal to all those who feel aggrieved to come back to our party and close ranks with the rest of us. In particular, I invite Chief Rotimi Anechi and Alhaji Muhammad Hayatu-Deen to join me in this fight to save our democracy and our country.
“As I said previously, there are no winners and no losers. Our people look up to us for leadership and I am ready to lead,” he said.
He added that he would work with other aspirants and stakeholders to build the party ahead of the general election.
“I shall work with you all to continue to build our party. I will campaign with you and if Nigeria’s leaders demand it, govern with you to build a country that works for all of us.”
The appeal is coming hours after both Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State and former Minister of Transportation and Hayatu-Deen, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), rejected the result, even before it was announced, citing what they described as manipulation of the voting process, with Hayatu-Deen saying he would not attend the announcement of the result.
Regardless, Atiku, Nigeria’s former Vice President between 1999 and 2007, said he truly humbled and excited to lead the party into the next elections, adding that he was particularly excited by the party’s demonstration of internal democracy despite the position of naysayers.
Hear him: “I must state at this juncture that this is not the time to celebrate. No one was defeated because we are one party and we all need to recognise the fierce urgency of the moment.
“Therefore, we have to unite, as we pledged before this process, to work to pull our country and our people out of the destructive grip of a corrupt, incompetent and polarising APC government.
“I thank the primary elections Committee for organising peaceful, free, fair and transparent primaries. I thank the various leadership organs of our party, the various stakeholders, and volunteers for their hard work and dedication and all our party members and supporters for their efforts, patience and conduct during the process.
“With the primaries behind us, the real hard work is about to begin. We have to prepare to campaign hard to win the next general elections in order to begin the difficult process of rescuing our country and its long-suffering people from this government.”
The Federal Government may find itself in a quandary if the proposal for punishment against the company handling its $9million contract to blunt the sharp edges of United States offensive against Nigeria over alleged persecution of Christians, sails through.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), in a report on Wednesday, sought to target companies like Washington-based DCI Group, contracted by the Nigerian government to get Washington soften its position after President Donald Trump designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), in 2025.
CPC, is the State Department’s designation for the worst violators of religious freedom, a loop, which the country fell into for allegedly tolerating systematic and ongoing violations of religious freedom.
The proposal targeting lobbying efforts aimed at softening U.S policy toward those governments, urged US Congress to bar individuals lobbying on behalf of foreign governments Washington had blacklisted for severe religious freedom violations from receiving payment for such services.
The pitch is part of the report the group released, to US lawmakers, which also contained a damning verdict delivered against Nigeria following allegations that both the police and military personnel are aiding terrorists to attack Christians.
The latest proposal, part of a broader effort aimed at making religious freedom a core pillar of U.S foreign policy under the Trump’s administration, comes amid parallel lobbying efforts by the federal government and opposition figures in Nigeria to shape US policy and perception, ahead of the 2027 elections.
Nigerian political actors across the government and opposition have stepped up spending on US lobbying firms, filing contracts under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to influence Washington on security, trade and political messaging.
Early this year, the Federal Government contracted Washington-based DCI Group in a $9 million agreement to communicate its efforts to protect Christian communities and counter what it called misinformation about religious violence.
The deal, executed on December 17, 2025, through Aster Legal on behalf of National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, runs for six months through June 30, 2026, with an automatic renewal clause.
Nigeria paid a $4.5 million retainer on December, 2025, with the same amount due for the second half of the contract. The arrangement covers $750,000 monthly payment for professional services and expenses.
DCI Group’s mandate includes engaging US officials on Nigeria’s counter-terrorism operations and its handling of religiously motivated violence, with the stated goal of sustaining US support in the fight against jihadist groups in West Africa.
Similarly, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar engaged Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. in a 12-month, $1.2 million deal signed March 10, 2026, and registered with the DOJ’s FARA Unit on April 1, 2026.
The firm was tasked with providing strategic advisory, congressional and executive branch engagement, and reputational management.
Objectives outlined in the filing include advancing understanding of Atiku’s leadership vision, strengthening his reputation in Washington, and countering narratives from incumbent Nigerian authorities.
The commission further urged Congress to authorise individuals legally residing in the U.S to sponsor relatives from persecuted and religious minority groups for resettlement in the country.
It enjoined the lawmakers to fund efforts addressing the humanitarian fallout of religious persecution, including “large populations displaced by religious persecution, including in refugee and internally displaced person, IDP, camps in countries such as Bangladesh, Iraq, Nigeria, and Sudan.”
It said the funding would cover education, healthcare, and other lifesaving initiatives.
The commission prescribed a full accounting of U.S. foreign assistance to CPC and SWL countries, including Nigeria and Sudan, “to determine whether such assistance supports or hinders efforts to advance religious freedom.”
On the executive side, the commission urged the administration to prioritise religious freedom in foreign policy and assistance programmes, and advocated release of prisoners of faith.
The Middle Belt Forum (MBF), is upbeat about the vibes coming from the United States, highlighting the crimes being committed against Christians in the region, saying it reflected the harsh realities the people had been subjected to over the decades.
Bitrus Pogu, its Chairman, while reacting to the report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which delivered a damning verdict on Nigerian government including the police and the military, said the report was consistent with the position of the body that some individuals within the nation’s security architecture are aiding the insurgents.
He said: “We have always maintained that there are people within the security services who are aiding insurgents in this country. It is a complex network. When you cannot explain how some things happen, especially seeing insurgents with military grade, armored personnel carriers, and lots more. We have seen that on the Plateau.
“Remember, was it 2019 or thereabouts, General T Y Danjuma said they (security men) are colluding with the insurgents. All these things are based on evidence. It is a known thing that we have people within our security network who are colluding and aiding these people.
“People within our political framework, governors, and so on, who are also aiding insurgents. It is an unfortunate development. Unfortunately, our government at the center, for whatever reason, seemed to have its hands tied and unable to do anything.
“Remember before President Jonathan left office, he said there were Boko Haram members or agents within his government. So Nigeria, whatever they (US panel) says in that regard, is justifiable. It’s known.
“All our prayer is that since they have greater intelligence and records of such things more than we do, in our cooperation or partnership with them, let them assist Nigeria in weeding out these criminal elements, so we can stop this, because every day, delay in this process strengthens the insurgents and they get more arms and ammunition as we go on.
“Again the sabotage within the security forces allows them to take over military installations and that also strengthens them as time goes on. So any delay is dangerous.
“We pray that with the information given now and the intelligence they (US) have, let them come to our aid and weed this country of the menace of insurgents. The conspiracy is too large for peace-loving components of the security agencies to deal with.
“You cannot explain why with all the technology available, the insurgents can just go in, run over even a brigade and get away with it. It means there are insiders within the security apparatus that are giving them intel and assisting them to demolish and destroy the country from within.
“So I agree with what the US Religious Freedom Panel said. And we pray that something will be done as early as possible to dismantle the criminality, to ensure that all arms that were imported, which have been diverted, are identified as well as who released the arms to the terrorists within the security forces and to do the needful. No stone should be left unturned in addressing this terrible conspiracy against the Nigerian nation.’’
Signals coming from the United States, are indicating that personnel of both the Nigerian Army (NA) and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) are complicit in the massive terrorism activities Nigerians have been subjected in over the years, which have grown to a new high quite recently.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which made the allegation on Wednesday, pointedly accused some police and army officers of colluding with Fulani militias in deadly attacks and mass abductions targeting religious communities across Nigeria.
The group in a report on the security crisis, urged US Congress to bar individuals lobbying on behalf of foreign governments Washington had blacklisted for severe religious freedom violations from receiving payment for such services.
Part of the report, read: “The fates of all these kidnapping victims, like so many others, remain unknown to the public due to the sensitivity of ransom negotiations and, in some cases, possible collusion between perpetrators and some officials from the police and/or army.
“Further complicating matters is the fact that both conflicting media narratives and reported government censorship have hindered accurate analysis of the identities and motivations of the alarming number of armed nonstate actors that violate religious freedom in Nigeria.
“Some observers have argued environmental and economic factors as the driving force behind Fulani militants’ acts of violence, while others have suggested that these actors are engaged in a concerted campaign of outright genocide against non-Muslims, especially Christians.
“In fact, multiple and overlapping factors, including religion in many cases, likely spur Fulani militants to attack communities or individuals.’’
The report, which revealed that escalating violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt had driven at least 1.3 million people from their homes, as armed attacks continued to destabilise several states in the region, estimated that about 30,000 armed actors operated across the country in loosely organised groups, ranging from 10 to 1,000 members, with activity concentrated in the North-West, Middle Belt and parts of the south.
Stressing that the scale of displacement reflected what it described as a persistent and widening security crisis affecting millions of residents across central Nigeria, it added: “These actors operate in a variety of contexts and with a multiplicity of likely aims and motivations.
“While many Fulani militant groups wage independent attacks, others periodically coordinate with a wide range of other actors, from conventional bandit gangs seeking financial enrichment to recognised terrorist organisations that espouse a violent interpretation of Islam.
“These Fulani militant attacks, among those of other actors, have forced at least 1.3 million people in the Middle Belt off their lands and into overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions in displacement camps.
“The militants frequently attack isolated rural communities at night using motorcycles, automatic weapons and machetes. They often wield machetes and descend on vulnerable communities during the night, eliciting terror as a way to force victims to quickly leave and to achieve greater control of desired land.
“The violence has been driven by repeated attacks on rural settlements, often leaving entire communities abandoned as residents flee for safety. These armed actors are operating without centralised leadership but frequently carrying out coordinated raids on vulnerable rural communities across several states.
“Several attacks carried out in 2025 and early 2026, including mass killings in Benue and Plateau states. One attack in Benue in June 2025 killed at least 200 people, including internally displaced persons living in a Catholic mission.
“In Yelwata, Benue State, in 2025, more than 200 Christians, mostly sleeping women and children, were reportedly killed and over 3,000 people displaced. Militants deliberately timed some attacks to coincide with Christian religious holidays. Militant actors have often carried out operations during Christian holidays such as Christmas or Easter to further maximise the psychological impact.”
The report, also cited how the terrorists in February 2026, killed at least 32 people in Niger State and subsequently attacked Holy Trinity Parish in the Kafanchan Diocese of Kaduna State, abducting 11 including parish priest, Father Nathaniel Asuwaye, after killing three others, highlighting how in many cases, both churches and mosques.
“In February 2026, armed men kidnapped an imam and seven worshipers from a mosque in Plateau. They demanded a ransom of N16m. On Easter Sunday, Fulani militants reportedly killed five worshippers at two churches in Kaduna State while abducting 31 others.”
Noting that conflicting narratives surrounding the violence had complicated efforts to determine the motivations behind the attacks, the commission criticised the federal and state authorities for what it described as inadequate responses to the violence.
It also revealed how some Christian advocates accused security agencies of showing favouritism toward Muslim communities during investigations and security operations, noting that governors from 11 states launched an initiative in June 2025 to establish ranch lands for herders in a bid to reduce clashes over grazing routes and farmland.
While referring to the concern of the Federal Government to the October 2025 decision by US President, Donald Trump, to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), over religious freedom violations, the group urged Congress to bar individuals lobbying on behalf of foreign governments the US had blacklisted for severe religious freedom violations from receiving payment for such services.
It also recommended for legislation “prohibiting any person from receiving compensation for lobbying on behalf of foreign governments of countries the State Department designates as Country of Particular Concern, CPCs.”
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