Nigeria is not operating as a full democracy but as an “electoral dictatorship,” where elections are held regularly but the outcomes do not consistently reflect the will of the people.
Civil society advocate an Programme Director at Development Dynamics, Dr. Jude Ohanele, made the assertion while speaking on the state of Nigeria’s democracy.
He called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to transmit the 2026 Electoral Act to the National Assembly for urgent amendment.
The proposed amendment, he said, should make real-time electronic transmission of election results from polling units mandatory and non-negotiable.
According to him, the absence of fully credible electoral processes has weakened Nigeria’s democratic claims, reducing elections to routine exercises that lack genuine accountability and transparency.
“So we pretend to conduct elections every four years. The elections have no impact because the processes leading to credible elections are absent, and the results essentially do not reflect the wishes of the people.
“So essentially, we are running an electoral dictatorship here in Nigeria,” he said.
He argued that meaningful democracy cannot exist without strict adherence to electoral integrity.
Ohanele stressed that all stakeholders must take responsibility for reforming the system.
“Well, my position is that it takes everybody in the society to build a democracy,”
He added that political parties, civil society organisations, the media, and citizens must insist on credible processes regardless of political affiliation.
Weak internal democracy
Ohanele identified weak internal democracy within political parties as one of the root causes of electoral failure, noting that candidates often emerge without transparent primaries.
“A situation where people who did not pass primaries are given party tickets is a major disincentive because that is the beginning of the scam and fraud we have in the system,” he said.
He also faulted the conduct of elections, particularly the handling of results, warning that abandoning mandatory electronic transmission creates room for manipulation.
“Immediately you abandon the electronic transmission of results, it becomes difficult to collect results credibly. That is where the real problem begins,” he stated.
Ohanele stressed that insisting on real-time transmission of results is essential to protecting the integrity of votes cast at polling units.
“At the polling units, people can conduct themselves properly and generate results.
Results should be sacred
“Those results should be made sacred. Once results are transmitted in real time, nobody can tamper with them again,” he explained.
The CS activist further argued that allowing citizens access to uploaded results through electronic platforms would reduce dependence on officials and improve transparency.
“You don’t need any officer anywhere to collect results. You yourself can go to the system and see the result for your ward. It makes the process easy and transparent,” he said.
The activist warned that continued resistance to electoral reform would deepen public distrust and further weaken Nigeria’s democratic credentials.
“This is something we must sort out if we really want to move an inch,” he said.
Ohanele urged President Tinubu to take decisive action by sponsoring an amendment to the Electoral Act that would make real-time electronic transmission compulsory and ensure expedited legislative consideration.
He maintained that such a reform could still be achieved within a short timeframe if there is political will, noting that previous electoral amendments had been passed rapidly when necessary.
“The amendment can be done within 24 to 48 hours if there is political will. The National Assembly has done this before,” he noted.
“I strongly encourage the president to send a bill to correct that section and push the National Assembly to give it accelerated attention.”
According to him, strengthening the electoral process through transparent, technology-driven result transmission is essential to moving Nigeria away from what he described as an electoral dictatorship toward a genuine democratic system.
