Renowned constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Jibrin Okutepa, has strongly criticised Nigeria’s political elite, accusing them of sabotaging democracy and deliberately resisting reforms that would guarantee credible elections, particularly the real-time electronic transmission of results.
In a statement shared on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Saturday, Okutepa declared that any attempt to block laws capable of restoring true democracy in Nigeria amounts to treason against the people.
“I have always said that almost all Nigerian politicians are not democrats. They only pay lip service to democracy,” Okutepa stated. “In reality, they are despots masquerading as democrats.”
According to him, genuine democracy thrives only where leaders emerge through free, fair and credible elections, noting that every stage of the electoral process is critical in determining the legitimacy of governance.
Okutepa lamented that political parties in Nigeria lack ideological depth and internal democracy, arguing that party membership has been hijacked by wealthy political actors driven by corrupt motives rather than public service.
“There is no true and voluntary party membership in Nigeria. There is no political ideology. The only ideology most parties share is how to capture power and share the commonwealth of Nigeria,” he said.
The senior lawyer further criticised the conduct of party primaries, describing them as largely undemocratic and rooted in the politics of imposition, where competence and visionary leadership are sacrificed for loyalty and sycophancy.
“Nigerian politics is built on the imposition of incompetence. Thinkers and people with ideas on how to turn things around are hardly given opportunities,” Okutepa added.
He linked the desperation of politicians to cling to power at all costs with the growing resistance to electronic transmission of election results, warning that transparency would expose the legitimacy crisis surrounding many office holders.
“If true democracy were practised and the will of the people respected, over 90 per cent of those occupying political offices today would not even win a ward election,” he said.
Reacting to reports that the Senate voted against real-time electronic transmission of election results, Okutepa said the development did not come as a surprise.
“Nobody supports a law that will sentence him to political and economic death,” he remarked, alleging that many elected officials did not emerge through credible elections and are therefore unaccountable to the people.
He maintained that manual collation of results remains the biggest avenue for electoral manipulation in Nigeria, urging citizens to demand electronic transmission as a safeguard for democracy.
“Elections are rigged during manual collation. Democratic robberies must end,” Okutepa insisted. “Anyone against real-time electronic transmission of results in the 21st century is an enemy of the people.”
In a strongly worded conclusion, the legal luminary described opposition to electoral reforms as an assault on democracy itself.
“To kill any law that allows true democracy to be restored and practised in Nigeria is treason,” Okutepa declared. “It is a coup against the people.”
