How to fix Nigeria’s politics for development

Hearty congratulations, compatriots, on our country’s 66th Independence Anniversary. I look forward to what President Bola Tinubu will tell us tomorrow, October 1. Meanwhile, I have decided to drill down into the importance of fixing our politics if we want to see good governance and development. I commend the yeoman’s job Dr Oby Ezekwesili is doing at the School of Politics, Policy and Governance under the Fix Politics Nigeria project. I have had the rare privilege of being a resource person at the school.

Information garnered from an online source says SPPG “is a transformative leadership programme aimed at developing a new generation of public leaders across Africa. The programme focuses on building value-driven, disruptive public leaders grounded in character, competence, and capacity. SPPG emerged from research at the Robert Bosch Academy and has since become a pan-African movement for better leadership, addressing governance challenges shared by African countries. The school runs in Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, and Ghana, and convenes leaders, reformers, and citizens through an annual Africa Conference. SPPG’s approach is unique, combining core modules with hands-on practical training, and its graduates join the SPPG Public Leaders Network for lifelong collaboration and learning.”

How many Nigerians know that we have been voting in this country for over a century? Our first ‘general’ election was in 1923 after the coming into force of Sir. Hugh Clifford’s Constitution of 1922. However, what have we got to show for it? Has our democracy connected us to development? The social contract of voting for our representatives in government- how has that rubbed off on the citizenry? We keep agonising about bad governance, worsening poverty, deepening unemployment, lingering insecurity, protracted cost of living crisis, dearth of infrastructure, etcetera.

Granted, we have had a chequered political history with a cumulative 29 years of military interregnum and over three years of fratricidal civil war; shouldn’t our development indices be pointing north rather than south by now? After all, we have had 27 unbroken years of civil rule in this Fourth Republic. The answer to this lies in the nature and character of Nigerian politics. Our politics of primitive accumulation of ill-gotten wealth. Politics of self-aggrandisement.  Our political class deploy Machiavellian principle of “the end justifies the means”. Remember Nicollo Machaivelli in his classic essay, “The Prince”, advocated for ruthlessness in politics. His principle contrasts with Mahatma Gandhi’s advocacy for politics grounded in ethics and principles.

An online source says, “The Machiavellian principle in politics refers to the idea that political leaders must be willing to use any means necessary to maintain power and achieve their goals. This principle is rooted in the belief that politics operates in its own right, separate from moral considerations, and that the ends justify the means. Machiavelli’s approach to politics is often associated with realism, which focuses on the practical outcomes of actions rather than their moral implications. His work, ‘The Prince’, is a prime example of this principle, where he advocates for rulers to be prepared to act in unscrupulous ways, including fraud, treachery, and elimination of political opponents, to secure their power.” Is that not what’s the order of the day in Nigeria’s political ecosystem?

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You must have heard the popular lingo that a gentleman cannot be a successful politician. This is because, to an average politician, politics and morality are like oil and water that do not mix. That’s why politicians lie with impunity. They have mastered the strategy of “divide and rule” or should I rather say, “divide to rule”. That’s why the ruling party will do all it can to avoid and avert a united opposition. That’s why they sow seeds of discord among the citizenry using the gimmick of tribe, ethnicity and religion.   That’s why they engage in “state capture”, where they subjugate democratic institutions to their whims and caprices. Their agent provocateurs can be found everywhere – in the electoral management body, the media, the civil society, the security agencies, the judiciary, the legislature, political parties and among the electorate.

Sanitising or fixing Nigeria’s politics will be of immense benefit to the citizenry. This is because once that is done, the rule of law will be an article of faith. Supremacy of the law, otherwise known as constitutionalism, equality before the law and Fundamental Human Rights will be our watchwords. Transparency and accountability in governance will be non-negotiable. Corruption will be brought to the barest minimum. Due process will become our new normal.

Last Thursday, September 24, 2026, in Abuja, I was a panellist at a Democracy and Governance Forum, organised by West Africa Democracy Radio, Dakar, Senegal, under the theme: “Nigeria’s Democratic Process: Accountability, Security and Electoral Integrity. It was a platform for reflection and dialogue on Nigeria’s electoral process, democratic participation, and the challenges affecting credible elections. I did say at the forum that we need to fix our politics if we want to see development. I recall the current shrinking of civic and political space, the attempt at “state capture” of democratic institutions and the need for people of good conscience to resist this descent into authoritarianism. I love what the keynote speaker, Dr Kudu Abubakar, formerly of NTA, said when he opined that “you cannot love democracy and hate accountability”.

Earlier last week, on September 22, I was at the public presentation of the report titled “Before the Ballot: Nigeria’s 2026 Party Primaries as a test for Electoral Credibility” which was supported by the European Union Support for Democratic Governance in Nigeria. I was involved in the research, which culminated in the report, having observed the party primaries held in Nigeria between April 23 and May 31, 2026. That report highlighted the shortcomings of the party primaries and made copious recommendations on what needs to be done ahead of the 2027 General Elections and thereafter. It is concerning that Nigerian politicians across the 22 registered political parties could not organise flawless and non-controversial party primaries. As things stand, a plethora of cases have been filed before the courts challenging many of the parties’ candidates’ nominations. It is doubtful if there will be a final list of bona fide candidates before the 2027 General Elections. It is noteworthy that leadership recruitment into government’s political offices starts at party primaries. With what was witnessed during the 2026 edition, God help us if we could have better leaders in 2027.

How do we fix politics? By simply doing the right things – be you a politician, judge, journalist, lawmaker, security agent and electorate. We need brave and incorruptible judges who will not double-speak on the letter and spirit of the law. Lawmakers who will make laws for the betterment of society, not for their own self-preservation or interest. We need competent, fearless and incorruptible poll officials who will not conduct shambolic elections, who will resist pressure from politicians like Prof. Nnenna Oti, who, as a Returning Officer for the Abia State governorship election in 2023, resisted the inducement and pressure to pervert the will of Abia voters by standing firm and declaring the right result.  Am talking about courageous INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners like Mike Igini, who served meritoriously. Once we have change agents like the aforementioned, the political buccaneers will be defeated and developmental politics will emerge as the new order.