Former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore and Senator Adams Oshiomhole sharply disagreed on the state of Nigeria’s democracy on Thursday, May 29, during a book launch in Abuja.
Speaking at the event for Senator Abdul Oroh’s book Demonstration of Craze: Struggles and Transition to Democracy in Nigeria, Sowore claimed that Nigeria’s 1999 transition to democracy was hijacked.
“There was a mistake we must admit to that we made when democracy came about in 1999. In all fairness, we shouldn’t have allowed charlatans to hijack the democratic process; we did,” Sowore said.
“And we are guilty of where we are today. In the US, they refer to democracy as government of the people, by the people and for the people. Abdul’s book title refers to democracy as ‘demonstration of craze’.
“But I have always referred to Nigerian democracy as ‘morontocracy’, a democracy that was hijacked by morons, and that is the result you can get,” he added.
Sowore argued that despite returning to civilian rule over two decades ago, Nigeria still fails to protect civil rights. He contrasted the Nigerian experience with South Africa, where he said anti-apartheid activists were recognised and rewarded.
He also questioned the integrity of Nigeria’s elections, claiming the 2023 polls were not truly democratic.
“Although I ran for election, I only saw on the day of the election a selection. And if we are not careful, which I’m sure you all know, the day will pass, and a set of people will have also selected themselves in power. And nothing will change in our lives,” he said.
Sowore alleged that security forces, not just the electoral commission, were complicit in rigging.
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“I can say this because I know what we now have in terms of our electoral politics, that whoever you see in INEC today is most likely an APC card-carrying member.
“And for those of you who think INEC is the problem, you are making a mistake. The biggest people who rig elections in Nigeria, who fix selection, are in the military, the security services.
“I was in the DSS when the Kogi election happened in 2019. They emptied the place; the only people that were left at the DSS were the guys who were guarding myself, and the guys at the gate.
“Every other person went to Kogi State to rig the election for Yahaya Bello. That is what will continue to happen in this country,” Sowore said.
In a counterpoint, Senator Oshiomhole cautioned against dismissing Nigeria’s democracy outright. He faulted what he described as Sowore’s “cynicism” and warned that such attitudes once discouraged many activists from participating in politics in 1999.
“In the course of talking, he (Sowore) said we made a mistake in not contesting in 1999. It is this same cynicism, doubt, dismissal, sweeping generalisation, that misled those, or some of those, who struggled for democracy, to say nothing good can come out of the military, they don’t mean it, there would be no election, a rat cannot give birth to a rabbit.
“There were all kinds of stories. How can the military midwife real democracy? No, it is not possible. Because it’s always better to dismiss everything to get louder applause.
“Then the bad guys decided, since you guys who fight keep dismissing those who were in charge of the system you want to change, we will go in there. They went in and they captured power, and they changed the culture of power, they changed the rules of the game.
“And I can speak with authority when I say that when you dismiss in a very sweeping manner that the country is hopeless, the system is impossible, so we should begin to cry?”
Oshiomhole concluded by urging leaders to “not discourage hope,” saying the imperfections in Nigeria’s democracy should motivate rather than defeat citizens.