Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has lamented the state of Nigeria’s democracy, stating that it has been “knocked down” and must be rebuilt urgently.
Speaking at a forum at the 60th birthday colloquium of former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, in Abuja, Obi argued that Nigeria’s democracy is failing, and that rather than progressing, the country has regressed.
He likened the situation to a building project, saying, “If you look at where we are today, it’s like they started in 1999, laid the foundation. Some people came and took it to a decking, and some people were trying to raise it to the first floor, and some people came and knocked everything down. That’s the situation we are in now. Everything has been knocked down. Nothing works.”
Obi recalled his tenure as Anambra State governor, contrasting past democratic practices with the present.
He noted that he was restored to office by the courts despite not paying any bribes.
“I became a governor through the courts when President Obasanjo and Atiku were in government. I did not pay the court one naira.. It can happen in Nigeria today.” he said.
He also recounted how former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua personally reached out to him during his impeachment and legal battles, something he believes would not happen today.
“When I was being impeached, the president sent people to come and intervene on my behalf. Ken Nnamani came, begging House people not to impeach me. Today, the president impeaches the person. So that is the thing, so it’s collapsed. So, it’s failed.
“They were begging my house not to impeach me. And they were in PDP, I was in APGA, and they were begging.
“President was calling me and said, Peter, are you okay? Even when I was impeached, President Obasanjo called me and said, are you okay? Are you safe?
“When I go back from the courts, when courts eventually declared me under N.D. Uba, President Yar’adua called my phone in London and said, congrats. I said, President, I can’t come back because you know, if I come back, these people. He said, tell me the flight in which you’re coming back, and I told him. When I came in, the first time, military people came to receive me at the airport – I couldn’t believe it – and took me straight to him.
“Now the president will ask you not to come back here again.” he said.
Obi then, still speaking on Nigeria’s democracy, said, “It’s failed. Let’s not talk about it; let’s talk about how we are going to rebuild it. It’s collapsing.”
