Sam Amadi on elections: Nigeria drifting to autocracy

Sam Amadi, director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, says Nigeria is drifting toward autocracy.

Amadi, a former chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Agency (NERC), spoke on Saturday with reporters on the sidelines of a memorial lecture.

The school marked the second year of the demise of Ariyo Dare-Atoye, an activist, with a dialogue entitled “Is Nigeria a Democracy? Reflections on the 2023 General Election”.

The director expressed dismay at the level of irregularities that marred the elections in different parts of the country.

“The fact that Nigeria holds elections does not mean we are a democracy. Russia holds these types of elections where the outcomes are predictable. In Imo state, for example, nobody is talking about how we are going to vote out a non-performing governor,” Amadi said.

“It is clear that people will be in the line and they will say if you are not voting for this party, leave the line. People will vote, and people will come there and scatter the vote, people will come and change the results.

“You have this crisis going on, how can you form a legitimate government? Look at Nasarawa, women came out naked – what will make old women – we are not talking about porn stars, but mothers of 70, and 80 years almost stark naked crying to God that their mandate has been stolen.

“Why do we have these scenes? They suggest something more autocratic than colonial rule, where colonial masters forcefully hijack the land, and state, and basically brutalize you.

“What Abuja school is saying is that we are drifting now to real autocracy, we are no longer a democracy. International agencies are saying we are a hybrid democracy, meaning that we are formally democratic but the logic of our democracy is authoritarian.”