Paul Okojie
Nigeria stands today at a crossroads. Since the return to civil rule in 1999, the people have endured the growing pains of democracy, its compromises, its setbacks, and its slow march forward. But never has our collective experiment been under such threat as it is now, under the stranglehold of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
For a decade, APC has entrenched itself as a party more obsessed with retaining power than deepening democracy. Its methods are now painfully familiar: subversion of electoral institutions, weaponization of security agencies, abuse of state resources, and the systematic silencing of dissent. The Nigeria of today increasingly resembles a one-party state system and the APC goons see nothing wrong with it, not because the opposition is weak, but because the ruling elite deploys every arm of government to suffocate alternatives.
The most recent example is the brazen attempt to exclude the Labour Party from the August 16 bye-election in Nigeria. By manipulating INEC’s internal processes and denying legitimate candidates access to upload their names, APC nearly staged a ballot without opposition. It took the intervention of the courts for justice to prevail, but not without exposing the desperation of a ruling party terrified of the people’s will. With this type of tendencies will Nigeria have an election in 2027?
This was not an isolated incident. Across Nigeria, elections are marred by vote buying, intimidation, and the reckless deployment of security forces to tilt outcomes. Courtrooms have become battlegrounds where mandates are stolen in the name of “technicalities.” Governors and party chieftains openly brag about “capturing states” as though we are at war and citizens are trophies rather than free people. What APC calls governance increasingly looks like authoritarian consolidation.
This is not just politics as usual. It is the gradual erosion of democratic values, the very pillars that sustain a free society. When elections become contests of rigging rather than the will of the people, when courts are used as instruments of manipulation instead of justice, when opposition voices are branded as enemies rather than compatriots, then the soul of democracy itself is under siege.
Today, the test before Nigerians is stark. Do we accept a future where our votes are meaningless, where elections are predetermined rituals, and where one political machine dictates our national destiny? Or do we insist, through courage and collective action, that power belongs to the people and not to any party or cabal?
This is not about partisanship. It is about patriotism and survival, the survival of a system that gives every Nigerian a say in how they are governed. Democracy thrives not because one party dominates, but because citizens defend their right to choice, accountability, and justice.
History will not forgive us if we sleepwalk into authoritarianism draped in democratic robes. The world is watching, but more importantly, future generations are counting on us. The final test is not for APC; it is for Nigerians.
May democracy not end in the hands of APC. May it survive in the hands of the people.
Paul Omo Okojie is a Journalist/Media Consultant