OPINION
Nigeria’s Democracy, 20 Years After: Where lies the Hope of the Poor?
By Menyanga Abu
Democracy according to Yusuf Bangura ,is a system of government in which leaders periodically renew their mandates through free, fear and competitive elections. It is a system that acknowledges the right of expression, organization and collective actions of the populace.
These rights grant the citizens the powers to exercise political choice and
to hold leaders accountable for their actions, inactions, decisions and indecisions as the case may be.
Democracy is considered as a powerful tool for meeting people’s aspirations as well as making them partners in decisions that affect their well-being. Functional and sincere democracy will alleviate poverty but where democracy becomes a charade – a capitalist tool or feudal instrument or an authoritarian institution, – it will end providing lip services.
That is a situation where overriding forces manning a sort of pseudo-democratic formations benefit themselves by exploiting the poor. No doubt, democracy in Nigeria has been elevated in public policy. I think we are yet to understand the type of politics and institutions that will make democracy to achieve growth and human wellbeing. Although our democratic process is participatory in outlook, it tends to be limited to few elected people without the involvement of such people like the informal workers, the artisans or the famers whose livelihood are directly affected by many of the development policies.
For democracy to add values to the lives of the poor masses and economic growth, every democratic practice should put economic liberty and transparency on a par with every other democratic value such as regular elections, rule of law, human rights, freedom of association and speech. For the poor to feel the positive impacts and benefit from democracy, I appeal to the present administration and its agencies not to use superfluities and rhetoric of democracy as a façade while behind the scenes engaging in rent-seeking practices that can lead to systemic entrenchment of corruption as done by the past administrations.
The corrupt system will easily provide avenues for politicians to use political powers for economic gains and the economic gains could be used for buying political influence. In such a situation democratic dividends hardly reach the general populace.
This usually results in persistent poverty among a large percentage of the population coupled with poor social services in struggling and developing democracy like ours. The situation above can lead to declining in supports for democracy by the populace at large and may signify real threat to democracy because impoverished poor masses may not have the necessary tools to fight back and in most cases they are not familiar with/use to demanding government’s accountability and responses.
Democracy can never be sustained without persistent efforts to eliminate poverty and vice versa. Strengthening democratic governance is an indispensable component of the efforts to alleviate poverty.
Poverty is a big threat to democracy as it tends to deprive people of their political voices, preventing them from holding their government accountable and responsive thus eroding public trust in democratic institutions. Democracy can deliver outcomes that will be beneficial to the poor only if,
(1) the rights of the people are institutionalized that will allow the poor to exercise political choice, build alliance with others and hold leaders to account
(2) groups with strong ties to the poor develop capacity for independent organization and mobilization as well as reconciling horizontal decisions and establishing structural links with the policy makers – social pacts – and
(3) lastly if there is high likelihood that the sitting government may likely lose office which can serve as incentives for redistribution. It is believed in some circles that electoral competitiveness can produce redistributive outcomes but competitiveness without effective organization and contestation may
produce weak redistributive outcomes.
Reducing poverty needs power relations at the nucleus of development, as such any strategy put in place to reduce poverty and inequality must consider tipping the balance of power. Eradicating poverty requires an expansion of the bargaining power of the poor masses and those who might represent them.
1999 marked the foundation of the longest continuous democratic governance in the history of Nigeria after her independence in 1960.
Democracy, as expected and believed by many Nigerians supposes to provide the citizens with that opportunity to participate in governance which in turn promotes development. But the said democratic government seems to be working against the aspirations and interests of the poor masses because of the way the democratic system is being operated coupled with corruption in this part of the world.
Take a survey of our National Assembly for example, the Assembly is a major democratic institution in any functional democratic setting, but today
our representatives are not reflecting our views, take less of reflecting our modest lifestyle who they claimed they are representing. Many of them own about four to seven exotic cars, each costing not less than twenty five to two hundred and fifty million naira in a country where about 130 million people out of the estimated 180 million are living in abject poverty and misery.
The irony of the whole thing is that, back in their villages, their closest neighbours and relatives are struggling to get some pieces of tiny tilapia fish (ibobo) of barely one hundred naira (N100) per a set of three or four just to give taste to their soups and not enough to eat. Yet these are the honourable members representing our interest that most cases pay us money to vote them to serve us. Nobody is asking why they should pay us for them to offer us services.
These show that these political elites have different motives that contradict the interests and aspirations of the general populace especially the poor masses. What I have observed in Nigeria today is that, that principle of value we cherished in the past no longer matter to our political elites as they can always use their ill-gotten money to get to public offices by buying the conscience of the poor masses. The highest bidders have takes on whatever is on the table.
The biggest enemy of democracy is poverty because when people are poor, they are in most cases reduced to destitute and a little money can change their minds. In such a situation that freedom of choice which is one of the beauties of democracy could be taken away from the poor masses by those who control the resources. Nigeria has no business with poverty because God has so blessed this nation with abundant resources.
We thought that with the advent of democracy in 1999, the gateway to development has been opened and bye to poverty sand misery. Little did we know that democracy as practiced in Nigeria is a gateway to corruption, individual enrichment resulting in abject poverty and misery instead of general development.
Democracy which is government of the people by the people for the people has tuned to government of the selected rich by the rich for the selected rich. Democracy to our political elites has come to mean government of the rich, making the rich richer and making the poor poorer. The permanent features of our democracy as experienced today are abject poverty and misery.
The first sixteen years of democratic governance in Nigeria was a complete
wastage though with some pockets of achievement that is nothing to write home about. Those years were marked with unprecedented corruption and wanton stealing of our common wealth by those entrusted with power. What we are experiencing today are no doubt the cumulative effects resulting from those years of mismanagement.
For example, sixteen billion dollars was said to have been spent on electricity provision, but where and what is the situation of power in Nigeria today and how was this huge amount spent, may be the details, as we are told are in a book written by one of our leaders. According to Brooking institute – 2018 world poverty clock – about 643 million people across the world are living in extreme poverty, which is below 1.9 dollars, about 540 naira per day. Out of this number, two third – about 428.7 million – of this population is from Africa.
On 26th June 2018, CNN reported that Nigeria is the new poverty capital of the world after overtaking India with an estimated number of 87 million
Nigerians extremely poor. We all know that the divine forces that drive democratic government to deliver anti-poverty outcomes are complex, but that does not mean that a functional democratic government cannot dismantle these complexities to provide the dividends of democracy to the poor masses that are always at the receiving end.
But then this takes time. Let us support the present administration in the fight against corruption and other of its programmes to bring about even development. I want to point out here that our problem as a country is most times the illusionary belief that we could change Nigeria over night by simply voting a different president into power believing that our problems start and stop with the president.
We tend to think that if we could just have the right person in power, then all of a sudden our numerous problems and Nigeria will be transformed forgetting that the person we are bringing as a new president comes from within Nigerian society and not from the moon or another angelic world or outer-space.
Nigeria’s problem is not just only the man in power but all Nigerians, our shared values and mentalities. Systemic rot and Nigerians are Nigeria’s problems and any day we realize this, we will no doubt get closer to finding solution to our complex problems.
The increasing level of poverty witnessed in Nigeria today results from many-sided problems that are traceable to our political elites/past leaders as well as us the followers because a country cannot good better leaders until it has better people.
Democratization in this country is often contested by the rich who sees it as a process or an avenue for making/stealing money and not for general development. To them democracy is viewed as a battle not of parties but of class and struggle between property and mere numbers.
This phenomenon is making democratization to lose its links between the political parties and broad social movements that define the interest of the poor. Poverty is on the rise as a result of failure of developmentalism; development in democratic setting according to Yusuf Bangura requires high level of continuous mobilization by political elites with development project who are ready to embrace open-led strategies of industrialization.
Any democracy without concerns for the welfare/wellbeing of the poor masses can never be said to be quasi-democracy no matter the colouration of the electoral processes and procedures.
Poverty alleviation in a democratic setting requires expansion of the bargaining power of the poor and those that represent them.
Menyanga Abu, is an Abuja-based Health System and Development Consultant.
By Jeff Okoroafor
In recent weeks, the arrest of social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has sparked outrage and reignited debates about the Nigerian government’s misuse of law enforcement agencies to suppress dissent.
The circumstances surrounding his detention—reportedly linked to his criticisms of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) and its influential customers—raise serious concerns about the weaponization of financial and anti-corruption institutions to silence critics. VeryDarkMan, known for his unfiltered commentary on social and political issues, has built a reputation for exposing alleged corruption, fraud, and misconduct among Nigeria’s elite. His recent posts questioning GTBank’s dealings with high-profile individuals appear to have triggered his arrest. While the EFCC claims his detention is related to “cyberstalking” and “defamation,” many see it as a politically motivated move to punish him for speaking truth to power.This is not the first time a vocal critic has been targeted under dubious charges. The EFCC, originally established to combat financial crimes, has increasingly been accused of being weaponized by the government and powerful interests to intimidate activists, journalists, and opposition figures. The agency’s swift action against VDM—while turning a blind eye to far more severe cases of fraud involving politically connected individuals—exposes its selective enforcement of the law.GTBank, one of Nigeria’s most prominent financial institutions, has denied involvement in VDM’s arrest. However, given the bank’s history of litigation against critics and its connections to influential figures, skepticism remains. If GTBank or any of its high-net-worth customers pressured authorities to detain VDM for his online commentary, it would represent a dangerous collusion between corporate power and state repression.Banks should not operate as instruments of censorship. If citizens cannot question financial institutions without fear of arrest, Nigeria’s already fragile democracy suffers further erosion. The right to criticize corporations—especially those handling public funds—is fundamental to accountability.The EFCC was once hailed as a crucial anti-graft agency, but under successive governments, it has devolved into a tool for political vendettas. From the arrest of journalists like Agba Jalingo to the harassment of activists like Omoyele Sowore, the pattern is clear: the EFCC is increasingly deployed to stifle free speech under the guise of fighting cybercrime.Section 24 of Nigeria’s Cybercrime Act, often cited in such cases, is dangerously vague and prone to abuse. It criminalizes “offensive” or “annoying” messages, giving authorities broad discretion to punish dissent. This law, alongside the EFCC’s growing politicization, creates a chilling effect where citizens self-censor to avoid persecution.The arrest of VeryDarkMan is not just about one individual—it is a test of Nigeria’s commitment to free speech. If financial institutions and government agencies can arbitrarily detain critics, then no voice is safe. Civil society, the media, and the legal community must push back against this authoritarian trend.Judicial Accountability: Courts must scrutinize EFCC’s actions and reject frivolous charges meant to suppress speech.Legislative Reform: The Cybercrime Act should be amended to remove ambiguous provisions that enable repression.Public Pressure: Nigerians must demand transparency from GTBank and the EFCC, ensuring that neither entity is used to punish critics.Nigeria cannot claim to be a democracy if the state and corporate powers conspire to silence dissent. The EFCC must return to its core mandate of fighting corruption—not citizens. VeryDarkMan’s case should serve as a rallying cry for all who believe in free expression. If we allow this precedent to stand, we risk descending into a regime where only the powerful have a voice, and truth is a punishable offense.Jeff Okoroafor is a social accountability advocate and a political commentator focused on governance, accountability, and social justice in West Africa.By Uddin Ifeanyi
The incumbent Federal Government is wont to make a song and dance of its reform credentials. Of late, it has been all about how smitten the international community is by these reforms – never mind that a growing domestic cohort chafes at them.Most other times, government’s spokespersons advert attention to how brave the Tinubu administration was to roll back the subsidy schemes in both the foreign exchange and domestic petrol markets.
Against the backdrop of the pussyfooting by its predecessors around both these reforms, the Tinubu government’s shills make a persuasive case. History, however, has more than one way of being explained. Its consequences, not so. In the case of the Tinubu government’s storytelling around its two most important market-based reforms, one indubitable consequence of the failure of previous governments to deal with financial leakages in the foreign exchange and downstream oil and gas sectors of the economy was that the exchequer had haemorrhaged to the point of severe anaemia when this government came into power.It is doubtful if the Tinubu administration could have carried on business as usual in these sectors without beaching the ship of state. Did the government, then, act from the courage of its convictions? No. More like captives of circumstances would. This reading is reinforced by the government’s subsequent reform failures. Assume, for the sake of argument, that the recourse to market-based reforms was in recognition of the need to properly price domestic transactions as part of the effort to ensure the efficient use of domestic resources. Is there a more necessary requirement for meeting this objective than reforms that improve the efficiency of the state?Unlikely. But the incumbent Federal Government has done nothing to address a state that is generally acknowledged to be too bloated, both for its own good and for the benefit of the economy that it is there to serve. The Oronsaye Report may no longer be as easily applicable as a reform initiative as when it was first released. But this is only because the Tinubu government has increased the state’s capacity, without notably making it more efficient. In administration, as in philosophy, the simplification of entities is a far more compelling case for the efficient generation, deployment, and use of increasingly scarce resources than their multiplication.If the administration then fails in its own reasoning, in so far as reforms to the organisation of the state is concerned, it can hardly be described as bold in its execution, either. Nowhere is this latter failing more glaring than in our administration of criminal justice. If the Nigeria Police Force daily fails the test of public opprobrium, the judiciary scarcely paints itself in glowing colours either.Yet, both are critical for an efficient market economy. The Americans still use cheques for their financial transactions. We cannot. And this is not because we have a far more sophisticated financial services space. True, settlements of banking transactions take place faster, here.True, we also have statutes against the issuance of dud cheques. But enforcement of any law, rule or regulation is a nightmare, here. Banks struggle to recover collaterals pledged for loans. Small wonder that we do not have a thriving mortgage space? The trust deficit has far-reaching implications, unfortunately. With it, contracts cannot be freely entered into. And yet, we are still to see reforms to our criminal justice system from our bold advocates.No less important, the state’s capacity to properly regulate the private sector is still in doubt. This is as much a case of regulatory capture as it is a worry about competence. Capture is worrisome, especially when private entities compromise a regulator. But its effects are no less harmful when industry is influenced and controlled by the arm of the state set up to regulate it. Either way, economic vibrancy is lost. And with it all prospects of attracting investments – whether of a local or foreign variety.Thankfully, there is still just about enough time and space for some of the reforms that the economy needs. The fear is that protestations to the contrary aside, we still suffer a severe shortage of the cojones needed to see these reforms through.Uddin Ifeanyi, journalist manqué and retired civil servant, can be reached @IfeanyiUddin.
By Samson Itodo
Nigeria’s 2027 elections, now just 21 months away, may be regulated by a new electoral law, possibly the Electoral Act 2025, as long as the National Assembly concludes the ongoing amendment process and the President grants assent to the bill this year.Therefore, the next few months will be determinative.
Debates on electoral reforms and proposed amendments to key sections of the Election Act 2022 and Constitution will dominate public discourse. As the momentum of the 2027 election gathers steam, politicians are becoming more invested in tweaking the rules of the game to guarantee electoral victory in 2027 rather than ensuring electoral reform proposals address the intractable challenges bedevilling Nigeria’s electoral process.Foremost among these challenges is the declining public trust in the electoral process due to election manipulation. Also, ‘captured’ democratic institutions, like INEC and the judiciary, are encumbered by persistent political interference and lastly, policies and practices that disenfranchise eligible citizens from voting.INEC’s Proposals for Electoral ReformINEC has officially highlighted its proposals for electoral reform in the current electoral cycle. These include four major constitutional amendments cutting across 16 sections of the 1999 constitution (As Amended). The proposals include the introduction of early voting and special voting to allow eligible voters on essential services to vote at elections. This includes election officials, security personnel, accredited journalists and election observers, as well as voters under incarceration and Nigeria living in the diaspora. This reform will ensure eligible voters are not disenfranchised as a result of their role in elections or location. To enhance the independence of the Commission, INEC is proposing the removal of the powers to appoint Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) from the President and vest the power in INEC. This amendment would empower INEC to appoint and discipline Heads of State Offices, FCT Offices, and State Directors of Elections. Furthermore, INEC is advocating for the establishment an Electoral OffencesCommission and a Political Party Regulatory Agency. To advance political inclusion, INEC recommends the creation of designated constituencies for women and persons with disabilities.In relation to the 2022 Electoral Act, INEC is advocating for amendments to 35 sections. Notable amongst the proposals include removing the ambiguities in the result management process, particularly the ambiguity in the words ‘transfer’ and ‘direct transmission’ of election results used in Sections 60(5) and 64(4 and 5) of the Electoral Act, which in the estimation of the Commission has resulted in conflicting interpretation.Another significant proposal is the introduction of a caveat to limit INEC’s power to review election results solely to cases of declaration of results under duress. Finally, INEC proposes the introduction of electronically downloadable voter cards or any other form of identification acceptable to the Commission for voter accreditation. This would enhance voter participation and reduce barriers to participation, especially where the physical distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) has proven challenging.Citizens’ Demands for Electoral ReformFollowing extensive consultations and a review of both domestic and international election observation recommendations, civil society groups released a Citizens’ Memorandum on Electoral Reform (2024). The memorandum outlines 37 recommendations under 15 strategic objectives across 15 priority reform areas.A key citizen demand is strengthening INEC’s independence and professionalism. To achieve this, the power vested in the President to appoint the Chairman, National Commissioners, and RECs should be removed and a multi-stakeholder appointment mechanism adopted.This will ensure appointment to INEC are merit-based appointments and devoid of political interference. The constitutional criteria of “non-partisanship and unquestionable character” should be expanded to include professional qualifications, health status, age, and gender.The introduction of mandatory timelines for appointments into INEC, such as requiring vacancies to be filled within 30 days, is recommended. It will prevent unwarranted delays in constituting the Commission as witnessed in the current instance where the second National Commissioner position for the South East vacated by Barr. Festus Okoye, two years ago, remains unfilled.Another significant demand is the resolution of pre- and post-election disputes before the swearing-in of elected officials. This amendment will enhance the legitimacy and stability of the electoral process. Achieving this will require revising election timelines as well as abridging the timeframe for hearing and determining pre-election matters and election petitions.The citizen memo also advocates for mandatory electronic transmission of results and legal timelines for testing electoral technologies deployed by INEC. These steps are crucial to improving transparency of any part of the electoral powered by technology. To enhance voter turnout, the memorandum proposes a review of the requirements for voter identification to permit the use of other legally acceptable means of identification for voter verification in addition to Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).Lastly, early voting is proposed to accommodate election officials and voters delivering essential services on election day such as security personnel, journalists, and accredited observers. This reform would ensure these critical actors are not disenfranchised due to their responsibilities on election day.Implications for the 2027 ElectionsWhile President’s Tinubu electoral reform agenda remains unclear, the National Assembly, through its joint committee on electoral reform, has made significant progress in the review of electoral laws. Four critical priorities emerge from INEC’s proposals and citizens demands:First, there is a great need to introduce special mechanisms to uphold citizens’ right to vote by making voting accessible. Proposals like early/special voting will enable historically marginalized eligible voters exercise their franchise. It will be historic for INEC officials, inmates, Nigerians in the diaspora, and others to cast their ballot in 2027 due to early/special voting. Alternative forms of identification and downloadable voter cards could address voter disenfranchisement resulting from the non-issuance of PVCs.Secondly, the election results management regime needs an overhaul. Certain ambiguities in the current electoral act that occasion misinterpretation and discretionary enforcement need to be resolved to clear procedures for collation and transmission.This should include compulsory electronic transmission to complement the manual collation process. Although the Supreme Court has ruled that the INEC IReV is not part of the collation process, this reform cycle presents an opportunity to integrate electronic transmission into the results collation process. Unfortunately, electronic transmission has not featured as a priority reform issue in the current reform process in the National Assembly.Thirdly, INEC’s independence is non-negotiable. There is growing consensus that divesting the power to appoint individuals from the President is a step towards recapturing the Commission and restoring public confidence. Lastly, concluding election disputes before swearing-in will create a sense of equity and prevent incumbents from influencing judicial outcomes using state resources and power.However, INEC’s proposal that its power to review election results under Section 65 Electoral Act 2022 should be limited to instances of declaration by duress is problematic. The current law provides two conditions for the exercise of this power: when election results are declared voluntarily and when election results are declared contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manual for the election. INEC’s proposal to eliminate the latter will further weaken the results management process, considering recent elections where elections were stolen through clear violations of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines. Rather than limit the conditions, the current provision should be retained and strengthened to provide clarity on the procedure for activating the power to review election results.As Nigeria enters a critical period in the electoral reform cycle, history beckons the national assembly and the President to act as statesmen and women by prioritizing public interests above personal or partisan political gain. The country’s electoral process is bleeding and bereft of public trust. While electoral amendments are a pathway to rebuilding trust and safeguarding the credibility of the 2027 elections, attitudinal change among political elites is the reform most needed to ensure every vote counts in February 2027.Samson Itodo is an election, democracy, and public policy enthusiast. Itodo serves as the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa and Principal Partner of the Election Law Center. He is also a member of the Kofi Annan Foundation board and the Board of Advisers of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). Comments and feedback to sitodo@yiaga.org
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