Nigeria’s democracy has collapsed, we must fight for country’s soul — Ezekwesili,  Adebayo, Obi, Sowore, others

By Henry Umoru 

Ahead of the 2027 Presidential and general elections, stakeholders have said that democracy in Nigeria has collapsed, calling on hands to be on deck to fight for the soul of Nigeria as a country. 

The stakeholders, who noted that opposition political parties have been destabilised with fake primaries in political parties to cause jeopardy and that there must be no one rule, said that these must be fought or else, Nigeria is doomed. 

They spoke separately on Monday at Stakeholders Engagement on the 2027 elections organised by the Movement for Credible Elections, MCE with the theme “Actualizing Credible 2027 Elections in Nigeria,” at the NICON Luxury Hotel, Abuja.

The programme according to the convener is part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s democratic process and promote transparent and peaceful elections.

In her remarks, the Chaiperson of the Ocassion and formerb Presidential Candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Mrs Oby Ezekwesili who noted that the country’s democracy as collapsed, said, “It is quite evident that, years into our democracy, it has degraded into a shambles in all the indicators that define functional democracies. Our democracy, since 1999, has steadily lost the confidence of citizens, but at no time has it been this bad. As a matter of fact, by 2023, when only 23% of registered voters voted in the presidential election that formed the current administration, it was very clear that we had departed from even the low average known across Africa, which is about 47%, and compared to global data, we were less than one-third in voter participation in elections.

“This stems from distrust of public institutions saddled with the mandate to conduct credible elections. I will come to that again, but the key reason we are gathered today is to look at how we create solidarity to ensure that our democracy does not collapse completely. It is edging there based on the indicators that define democratic societies. We no longer fully qualify to be called a democracy, properly so called, as lawyers would say.

“One major crisis is the increasing use of state power against dissenting voices, whether political dissenters or citizens who criticize governance. Repeated allegations and instances of intimidation, harassment, and arrest, especially by those who claim democratic credentials, are a cause for deep concern in a democracy. Citizens must have the liberty to exercise their rights, and as we approach the 2027 elections, citizens operating under fear that their voices will be muffled and their freedoms violated should give everyone reason to worry.

“Democracy enables competition, because its basic thesis is that fair competition allows the best solutions to public problems to emerge without manipulation by those responsible for ensuring fairness. The credibility of any electoral process lies in guaranteeing a transparent and level playing field. Unfortunately, that no longer seems to be the case.

“In recent months, we have seen defections and intra-party conflicts often alleged to be instigated by the government. To the extent that Nigerians have the right to choose those they believe will serve them, such actions undermine the core of competitive democracy.

“Public confidence in electoral credibility depends heavily on trust in the electoral umpire, in our case the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as well as confidence in the judiciary and security agencies. Allegations of political interference, inconsistent judicial rulings on electoral disputes, and the deployment of security forces during party meetings do nothing to strengthen that confidence.”

On his part, the Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP ahead of 2027 election, Prince Adewole Adebayo who called for the sustainance of the nation’s democracy, said that Nigerians must fight for democracy the way and manner the soldiers were sent to the barracks to allow for democracy in 1999.

Adebayo who noted that the government was using federal government money to organise what he described as fake primaries in opposition political parties to cause jeopardy, said, “President Tinubu is not content to belong to only one party, because he signed into a law, a provision that says you must belong only to one political party, but he wants to belong to every political party. He wants to have his own parallel organs in every political party, parallel candidate with political party, parallel program for political parties, and he wants to score 10 million votes, even only 300,000 people are voting. You see, that’s why we’ll be going from courtroom to courtroom, so my apologies.

“The thing I can say about what is happening to the transition programme that we have is that we have to take a template from the transition from military rule, whatever we did that made us to be able to get the military back to the barracks, we have to do twice that now. Don’t be deceived, don’t be deceived that President Tinubu has different tailors that make his dresses from the one that made the uniforms of the soldiers, but his ideas are in the barracks. Let me summarize what we are facing. It’s not complicated. We are facing a non-performing public officer who wants to pretend that he’s performing and want all of us to get along performing with him, and he wants to write a Shakespearean tragedy where we’ll be given roles to play, so I’m supposed to be a fake opponent, for example, so pretending to be contesting against him without contesting, then he will like me agree a lot of money. 

“He already got someone to be impersonating as INEC chairman, who is not the INEC chairman, so before you think of charging Abu Ku Na to call for election, you first have to charge him to call for pretending to be an ex chairman when he’s not, because President Tinubu is Commander in Chief of the armed forces, President and Head of State is also the Chairman General of all political parties and candidate general of all political parties. He’s also the Chairman of INEC, and if you give him more room, you want to be Chief Justice of Nigeria as well. 

“So, this consolidation of everything that the country stands for into a singularity is not just about greed, about making money, because you are the president, you are still the contractors, but you are the contractor general of the federation, and you are the tax collector general of the federation. Now, so every political party is supposed to just play a role. So, you tell INEC which party to register, which not to register. You can register those who didn’t apply, you can refuse to register those who applied, you can disqualify political party because they are overqualified. You also choose who will be the National Working Committee of every political party.”

In his remarks, the Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party and the Allied Peoples Movement, Seyi Makinde who was represented by Executive Assistant on Administration, Rev. Idowu Ogedengbe said, “A credible election guarantees that the leaders who emerge carry the genuine mandate of the people. When a leader knows they were truly chosen by the ballot, they carry a burden of legitimacy. Legitimacy truly comes with a burden. The burden of living up to the expectations of the electorates. 

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“Leaders that are elected through credible elections answer to the citizens, not to a cabal of political godfathers or some vested interests. This legitimacy gives government the moral authority to enforce laws, collect revenues, and enact policies necessary for development. Even when the policies are tough, the masses are usually patient in the belief that they are being implemented with their interest at heart.”

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On his part, former presidential candidate for the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore said, “You see, even the idea of participating in the elections is, in a way, let’s be honest with ourselves, an endorsement of their impunity. Because they will announce election and they know that every four years we will run around, they will win the election again, we’ll go to their own court rooms, courts manned by judges they appointed, and we expect foolishly that we will get justice from those courts. It’s impossible. And what I must tell everybody is that we must take this not just as a struggle that we are appealing to people to join, take it as a struggle of our lives. Take it as if we are being colonised by the British and fight as if we need independence all over again.

“And we must reject anything and everything Tinubu represents. But let’s forget that Tinubu is just the symbolic name for the rotting elite that is destroying Nigeria. Even if Tinubu leaves tomorrow, they have tonnes of Tinubus like, you know, what they call abacos.

“You push one away, another one. And they exist in different political parties that we all own a part of in some cases. That is the truth.And as a result, we must tell ourselves the truth, that joining hands together is not an anathema. And nobody should be begging anybody to join hands together. 

“You are about to sink to the bottom of the sea.Tinubu came to finish what the rest have started, starting from Babangeda. And if you look at Nigeria today, Babangida is still part of the political equation. You look at Nigeria today, Obasanjo is still part of the political equation, especially for those of you who do presidential candidacy and you go to their house to seek endorsement. You are as guilty as they are. You must cut away and cut yourself from the rotting past.”

In his remarks, presidential aspirant in the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, ahead of 2027 general elections, Peter Obi who was represented by Tanko Yunusa said, “Credible elections depict that the right voter’s register is being put in place. As we speak, the continued voter’s register is already on, but some persons have been disenfranchised, especially from the southeastern extraction. And this, for us, pertains danger into the electoral process. 

“We are asking and demanding that the electoral reform should be urgently revisited for the interest of free and fair and credible elections. And we say this with pathetic zeal. For some of us who have been in the trenches for a very long time, this is no more time for us to continue to agitate in a cosy room like this. We should take these messages to the streets and fight this particular issue so that we can get the right electoral reform. 

“So, in our final submission, it is our profound suggestion that we, after having the communique, we take this communique directly to those who are in charge. The National Assembly and the INEC itself must be presented with this document, if possible, extended to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Thank you very much.”

In his remarks, Dr Sam Amadi said, “I think the problem is that INEC processes, the parties are not participating effectively. The parties are also not challenging INEC. I have argued that INEC’s work is primarily regulatory. And that means the parties should be filing petitions to INEC and demanding that INEC, that’s why I say commission, INEC ought to be sitting as a commission. Hear petitions from parties, decide and vote, record it. Even Central Bank is dealing with an abstract issue. They publish for us monthly report of the NPR and say, by 2-1-0-3-0, the CBN Board of Governors approved A or B. And if you go to the record, you will see all the deliberations, who said what. So, INEC has been run as a magic box. The chairman comes and tell you, INEC did this. No, they should be having open forum. And if there are parties that should force them, so maybe the starting point for the movement for critical election is to organise the parties together so they have a forum. And each, before INEC decides anything, INEC must consult them, deliberate, see the board, receive their petition and make a decision.

“The second point I would like to raise is this. And I agree with the Sowore that we need radical action. But radical action doesn’t have to be totally anarchical action. It can be within the rules and structure. 

“So, for example, why are we always having multiple parties have pressure candidate? Must everybody be a pressure candidate? Must everybody be a governor? So, it’s also important on our side to find a way to bring together a stronger coalition to fight for this moment. We cannot want to defeat the status quo by splitting into different groups. So, I want to tell everybody, all of you are qualified to be presidents. All of you can be governors and senators. But it’s not feasible to defeat the status quo by being low rangers. 

“You have to come together and then we can look at the differences and harmonise them and have a common agreement on issues to advance away from this current darkness.”

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