Constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has raised concerns that Nigeria is veering toward authoritarianism.
This was as he cautioned that the country could morph into a de facto one-party state if current trends continue unchallenged.
Ozekhome stated this while appearing on Channels Television’s Hard Copy programme on Saturday, sounding the alarm over what he described as a growing erosion of political diversity and ideological identity in Nigeria’s democratic space.
“In a one-party state, dictatorship reigns supreme. Everybody will agree. National Assembly pocketed, judiciary will be pocketed, and everybody will be saying ‘yes, yes, yes,’”; he said.
The legal luminary also condemned the escalating pattern of political defections and opportunistic party-switching, branding it a symptom of weak ideological foundations among the nation’s political elite.
“It’s like beans, akara, and moi-moi; they’re the same,”; he said.
Taking from Nigeria’s political history, the senior lawyer recalled the overconfidence of the former ruling PDP, which once proclaimed a 60-year reign only to be upended after 16 years, warning that similar complacency could breed authoritarianism under the current administration.
He pointed to President Bola Tinubu’s consolidation of loyalists across key government institutions, cautioning that if opposition forces remain fragmented, the 2027 election could resemble a solo contest.
