The Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, says Nigeria is not a democratic country.
Obi stated this while speaking on Tuesday during his appearance on Prime Time, a programme on Arise TV.
The former Anambra state governor claimed that the standards for measuring democracy do not exist in Nigeria.
“I have said it, and I maintain that there is no democracy in Nigeria today. Nigeria today is not a democratic country. Let’s stop telling ourselves lies. If you look at all the tenets and yardsticks measuring democracy, it doesn’t exist here.
“Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Today, the government we have is not of the people.
“It is not by the people because the people didn’t vote. It wasn’t their votes. I’m not just talking about the presidency; it’s across the line. Look at what happened in Edo. Can you call that democracy?
“It is not the vote of the people. And it is not for the people. I have just told you that I went to an IDP camp where we have thousands of people. No primary health care.
“They were begging me to have one nurse, which I said I must make sure they have. They don’t even have a primary school, which again I have told them I will make sure it happens,” Obi said.
He also faulted the government for prioritising the wrong issues and neglecting social capital development.
Recall that Obi, in March, criticised President Bola Tinubu for declaring a state of emergency in Rivers and suspending Siminalayi Fubara, governor of the state.
According to him, Nigeria’s democracy, which has been progressing since 1999, is now collapsing and being knocked down by Tinubu’s administration.