As the country marks June 12 Democracy Day, for some, it is an opportunity to restate the journey that brought Nigeria here: the years of struggle against military dictatorship, the bruises as well as the trauma. But it is now 27 years of civil rule. How well have civilian authorities determined to make a difference between now and when the Military was in charge?
The answer depends on who is doing the narration. The Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government (SFG), has inaugurated an inter-ministerial committee to coordinate activities to mark the 27th Democracy Day.
Speaking at the inauguration, the SGF, Senator George Akume, described the occasion as a significant moment for Nigerians to reflect on the sacrifices, resilience and determination of those who fought for this democracy. Akume claimed that democratic institutions and values are being strengthened across the country, and are built on the sacrifices of patriots who struggled for democratic rule. The government is waiting to showcase its achievements and reaffirm commitment to democratic governance.
But data and lived experiences of Nigerians testify that this democracy is not headed in the right direction. It has failed and is only being assisted in place by a tiny political elite and their business friends who are comfortable with partial governance and the opacity and corruption it enables. They cannot afford to let go. The Military that used to clear the stables when the filth is mountain-high have been blackmailed. Western civilisation no longer accepts their style. But the politicians who are far worse are tolerated.
The people that ought to use their votes to demand good governance are also betrayed and brainwashed. They’re told that the worst form of democracy is still the best. In 27 years of democracy, there is yet no evidence to support that theory. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), reported that 63 per cent of the population (over 133 million Nigerians) are multidimensionally poor, as part of the dividend of democracy.
Democracy is defined by the freedom given to citizens to choose. The system encourages multi-party and grassroots participation. Today, that freedom has been abridged, as opposition parties have been rendered comatose. This has been the pattern since 1999, with ruling parties forcing themselves on the people, even when they fail to deliver good governance.
In his three years in office, President Tinubu’s major achievement is the balkanisation of the opposition. As the country prepares for 2027 elections, opposition parties are in disarray, and saddled with multiple disputes in court. Let SGF Akume remember to add that as part of the democratic values their government has strengthened across the country.
Within the ruling party, APC has killed internal democracy. Members are not allowed to hold and express divergent views on how to move the party forward. The APC structure has been surrendered by feckless and fawning party leaders to President Tinubu, reminiscent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), where the leader is the supremo. Dissent is a crime. The other day, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, a June 12 promoter and pro-democracy activist, gave a contrary opinion on the shambolic primaries the party conducted across the country.
Fayemi counseled that the party had lost its founding vision by abandoning internal democracy and warned that reliance on doubtful consensus to select candidates could trigger internal implosion.
The National Secretary of the party, Ajibola Basiru, said Fayemi was demarketing the party and warned that disciplinary measures would be applied for comments that portray the party in bad light.
In the process of wooing opposition members (governors and lawmakers) away from their parties, some were promised automatic tickets. The idea of automatic tickets in a democracy is roguery. About 60 federal lawmakers are now stranded having lost the primaries. But the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, last week, assured them that APC is actively working to address issues arising from the primaries. Hoping that the party will not manipulate the final list.
That’s how democratic principles are routinely trashed in the Fourth Republic. That was how Akpabio was awarded the APC ticket for Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District in 2023. He did not participate in the primary, because he was a presidential aspirant. He was awarded the ticket after he stepped down for Tinubu.
The same thing happened to former President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan. In 2023, he did not contest the primary for Yobe North Senatorial District. But the court curiously gave him the ticket already won by Bashir Machina. Lawan has spent 27 years in the National Assembly. And he’s not letting go, typical political stranglehold in a primitive winner-takes-all setting. Millions are shut out.
The survival of democracy and the presidential system depend on strict adherence to the rule of law and justice. It also depends on how faithfully the theory of separation of powers is applied. Since 1999, the executive has dominated the legislature and the judiciary. It is not healthy for democracy.
The President determines those who win primaries to come to the National Assembly. The president imposes the leadership of the NASS, and effectively takes charge of that arm. With a lot of money, a crooked president can keep a pliable legislature under perpetual domination.
When lawmakers cede their powers to check and balance an authoritarian executive, what we have is a constitutional chieftaincy, no longer a democracy. As it is today, the most crucial parliamentary laws, the Appropriation Act, is flagrantly disobeyed and capital budgets are not implemented.
Insecurity becomes the order of the day because less than 10 per cent of military budgets are implemented while terrorists plunder the country. Three budgets are rolled into one and there is fiscal confusion in government. The only thing that works is funding recurrent budgets to run multiple bureaucracies. Procurement laws are abandoned and contracts are awarded to friends of government. No checks. This is what happens when the legislature abandons its constitutional responsibilities.
If June 12 and democracy are to survive, the system must find ways to rescue the legislature from docility and corruption. Lawmakers appropriate to themselves the resources that should be spent on constituencies. Political theorists have suggested that given the poverty in the land, Nigeria can no longer afford full-time bicameral legislature, where failed governors retire to hide from financial crimes agencies. Let it be part-time.
Democracy is nourished by the principle of periodic elections that are free and fair. That was what Nigerians opted for when they fought for June 12, so that by themselves, they would decide those to govern them. To deliver free and fair elections, the electoral body must be independent in name and in deed.
But today’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) operates more like a wing of the ruling party. Why is it so? The President is allowed to appoint anybody he fancies to head INEC. The President alone appoints the national and resident electoral commissioners across the country and the FCT.
The implication is that a president, who is not a saint is likely to appoint his friends and party members into INEC. The temptation is that INEC is obligated to serve the interest of a president first, before it considers what’s free or fair. This system must be dismantled, so that the country does not experience another June 12.
Options have been put on the table by different committees over the years. Operators who claim to fight for democracy must show courage to initiate drastic electoral reforms, like those carried out in the economic sector.
The judiciary is the arm to which politicians turn when the political parties are distressed, as they are now. The judiciary has unfortunately complicated democracy through connivance with crooked politicians. Since 1999, the judiciary has lost capacity to decisively interpret the Constitution and the Electoral Act, pertaining to resolving disputes in parties.
It is reported that the judiciary is unable to resist pressure from politicians, which is sometimes backed with filthy lucre. A survey by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission reported that between 2018 and 2020, about N9.4 billion was transacted as bribes in Nigeria’s justice sector.
Politicians also use houses and luxury vehicles to ensnare the judiciary, thus compromising justice delivery and enabling political actors to misbehave. The worsening crises in opposition parties is linked to abuse of judicial processes by judges and their politician friends; to the extent that certain judges are notoriously aligned to particular politicians and parties.
When the judiciary is so compromised, the tendency is that it will complicate political crises. The dependence of the judiciary on handouts from politicians is disrespectful and harmful to this democracy. Whatever belongs to the judiciary should be appropriated as a first line charge. Let’s stop making politicians feel as if they own the judiciary.
The real failure of this democracy is in the disrespect of government for Nigerian youths. The political system has no plan for young people. Out of Nigeria’s estimated population of around 240 million, between 53 to 61 per cent (around 130 million to 147 million) were born since 1999. Government’s harsh and draconian economic policies affect this demographic very harshly.
They are yet to witness good governance. If they are to vote, their statement would be resounding. Yet, they’re not organised to have a voice. They are told to wait for strangulating policies to mature before they enjoy better life. When? But children of the ruling class are living in affluence. Their parents purchase costly education and luxury homes for them at home and abroad, with resources of the people. Some are being smuggled into the ruling class through fictitious primar
The certain dividend this democracy has acquired for Nigerians, particularly the youths, is unprecedented rise in loans. The Debt Management Office (DMO), reported that Nigeria’s public debt is N159.28 trillion as of April 2026. In less than three years, President Tinubu borrowed N65.9 trillion and is not done yet. The lawmakers have promised to approve more loans.
This democracy is a burden. It is up to Nigerians to make it lighter.
Guardian (NG)
END
Be the first to comment