Senior Advocate of Nigeria Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, has issued a scathing indictment of Nigeria’s political class, warning that endemic corruption and the capture of state institutions have pushed the country into a “political quagmire” — remarks he delivered amid heightened international pressure following U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of military intervention over reported mass killings.
Okutepa told reporters that Nigeria’s core problem is corruption, arguing that successive leaders have treated corrupt practice as “a way of life” and passed it on as an inherited legacy.
“Nobody in government past or present can say with a clear conscience that the problems of Nigeria are not corruption and bad governance based on corruption,” he said. “People forced themselves on Nigerians through corruption.”
The senior lawyer described corruption as “the worst form of governmental banditry,” accusing public officials of diverting contract funds and starving critical infrastructure of resources.
“Contracts are awarded by most of those who have the power to do so with corrupt motives. Those who award contracts take more than those who are to execute the contracts,” Okutepa said. “Payments for most of the bogus contracts awarded on paper ended up in the pockets of political leadership at all levels of governance.”
He painted a grim picture of dilapidated roads and failed projects as visible evidence of systemic theft, linking infrastructure decay to insecurity.
“If you want to know what corruption has done to Nigerians and the Nigerian state, travel by roads,” he said. “It is either the roads are not constructed or they are haphazardly constructed with the meagre remainder of the contract sums that have been shared.”
Okutepa warned that the parlous state of infrastructure has aided criminals, noting that poor roads help kidnappers and insurgents operate with impunity. He also addressed international reactions — including President Trump’s dramatic warnings — arguing that such external pressure should jolt the federal government into decisive reform rather than polarise the nation.
“The threats of invasion of Nigeria by the President of America due to the genocidal killings in Nigeria should wake this government up to the realities that Nigeria’s existence as a nation is hanging in the balance,” he said.
The SAN was sharply critical of security institutions, accusing some agencies of being compromised and more protective of the powerful than of the populace.
“The security agencies have been castrated and have become complicit in the website’s corruption. Most of these security agencies protect the people in power more than they protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria,” Okutepa said.
Turning to political leadership, Okutepa urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to confront corruption head-on — not by denying it, but by acknowledging and aggressively tackling it. He argued the president should lead by example and take brutal, nationalistic measures to reclaim the state from what he called “state capture.”
“I will suggest to Mr President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to change his ways and deal with the issues nationalistically and be brutal in dealing with these issues. He must lead by example. He must be ready to fight corruption and corrupt public officials,” Okutepa urged.
He warned that without immediate and forceful action, corruption will consume the country — including those who currently ignore or benefit from the capture of public offices.
“It is either we kill corruption or corruption consumes all of us including those who are closing their eyes to the state capture of even the judiciary arm of government,” he said.
Okutepa echoed calls from civil society and legal commentators for urgent monitoring of public servants and political actors, insisting the window for reform is now.
“Nobody wants to do the right things in government and governance. The best time to do so is now,” he said. “Most people in power at all levels including public servants and public officers must be closely monitored now.”
His remarks come as Nigeria faces both mounting domestic insecurity and growing international scrutiny — a moment Okutepa described as a test of leadership and national survival.
