Omoyele Sowore, publisher, controversial activist, and former presidential candidate, has declared that democracy in Nigeria is dead and that the results of the 2027 general elections have already been written.
He made the assertion during a recent interview with Vanguard, expressing grave concerns about the current state of governance, the electoral system, and the state of opposition politics in Nigeria.
“I don’t believe in the current ballot system. The 2027 results are already written. The only thing that can change Nigeria is rebellion against the system, against another sham election—not against democracy, anyway.”
Speaking ahead of the upcoming Democracy Day, Sowore strongly criticised the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing it as worse than that of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Nigerians made a grave mistake voting Bola Tinubu into office. I said it before, and I’ll say it again: when Tinubu is done with this country, Nigerians will be begging to return to Buhari’s era,” he said. “Buhari killed Nigeria in eight years; Tinubu came, in two years he is burying it.”
Sowore dismissed the idea of celebrating Democracy Day, arguing that Nigerians no longer believe in democracy.
“What Nigerians are whispering—dangerously—is that they no longer believe in democracy. The promises of democracy—free speech, credible elections, freedom to choose—have been destroyed,” he said. “Today, people celebrate military dictators just to express their frustration. But to be clear, I don’t support military rules. What we have now is a shambolic democracy.”
Reacting to the House of Representatives’ proposal to make voting compulsory, Sowore condemned the idea as a forced attempt to legitimise a broken system.
“If you have to use threats to force people to vote, then democracy is dead. You cannot force people to participate in a system they no longer believe in. That proposal is not about participation; it’s about forced legitimacy,” he stated.
He dismissed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s continued involvement in politics, saying, “Atiku is a man whose time has passed. But he’s still hanging around, hoping to be President. That’s all he cares about.”
