SOME political leaders and legal experts in Kwara State have taken a hard look at Nigeria’s democratic journey since 1999, declaring that the country continues to conduct elections without democracy.
Delivering a paper titled: “Elections Without Democracy” at the second Dr. Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia Colloquium on Democracy and Good Governance in Ilorin, on Sunday, former legislator and state commissioner, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, insisted that Nigeria’s Fourth Republic has mostly produced governments serving elite interests rather than the people.
Oyedepo argued that the mere conduct of periodic polls does not amount to democracy, noting that elections in Nigeria have consistently lacked the transparency, fairness and credibility required for true democratic governance.
“Our elections are no more than a ritual. They have been riddled with ballot snatching, vote buying, manipulation of electoral processes, and violent campaigns that say nothing to the people’s real needs,” he said.
He questioned the legitimacy of outcomes from seven election cycles since 1999, stating that while the elections had thrown up governments, they had not necessarily produced democratic leadership.
“In content, if not in form, we have only replaced one dictatorship with another. What we practise is a conspiracy of elites. It is not the government of the people, by the people and for the people—it is government of the few, by the powerful, and for their pockets,” he said.
Oyedepo also condemned the state of political parties in Nigeria, describing them as “special purpose vehicles” hijacked by moneybags who control candidates and party processes as personal investments.
“Our parties are ideologically barren. They lack internal democracy. Membership is not based on principles or shared values but on obedience to political godfathers”, he said.
Oyedepo called for a national rebirth, urging Nigerians to demand new values, new institutions, and a new generation of leaders with a collective national vision.
“Twenty-six years on, democracy in Nigeria remains an empty shell. We need new founding fathers who will rebuild this country on truth, service and the real will of the people,” he said.
Also speaking, the convener of the colloquium, Associate Professor Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia, charged Nigerians to reclaim the democratic institutions from the grip of political and economic elites who, he said, continued to weaken state structures for personal gain.
Ajia warned that Nigeria is facing a critical threat of state capture—a situation where democratic institutions are no longer accountable to the people but serve the interests of a powerful few.
“Democracy in Nigeria is not failing because people have stopped voting; it is failing because those who should defend institutions are the ones subverting them”, Ajia said.
The colloquium, themed “Interrogating the Nigerian State, Its Democratic Institutions, and the Looming Threats of State Capture,” provided a platform for critical reflection on Nigeria’s democratic journey and governance challenges.
Prominent scholars, civil society actors, students and advocates of good governance attended the colloquium to interrogate the current state of Nigeria’s democracy.
