A Nigerian political commentator who is also the founder of Agora Policy, Waziri Adio, says Nigeria’s upcoming election is a test of maturity in democracy.
He believes the
world is watching Nigeria to see if its politicians and citizens will pass the
maturity test after years of uninterrupted democracy.
The Nigerian
election slated for Saturday, February 25, 2023, has eighteen candidates
contesting for the presidency with three being the frontrunners.
Speaking in an
interview on The Point of View, Mr. Adio stated, “this election is an
opportunity to test Nigeria’s maturity in democracy because longevity is not
the same as maturity. It gives us an opportunity of open election”.
The founder of
Agora Policy said lots of people in the African continent expect much more from
Nigerians in this election.
He noted that
Nigeria has had an unbroken democratic rule since 1999 and this election is
going to be Nigeria’s longest experience with democracy.
The Political
Commentator remarked that Nigeria has held elections back to back without any
interruptions or military rule.
“This is going
to be our longest experience with democracy. In the 1st Republic, we had six
years and in the 2nd Republic, we had four years and a few months. The 3rd
Republic was stillborn, but we have had this democracy for 24 years now. From
1999 to now, this is the longest time we had an unbroken democratic rule, and
we have had elections for more than two cycles. In the 1st Republic after the
2nd cycle of elections, things fell apart,” he underscored.
He stressed,
“the same thing happened in the 2nd Republic, and of course, the 3rd Republic
was still born. So this is the 7th series within the Republic, 7th cycle of
elections that we have held back to back without any interruptions, without
military rule since 1999. The number of years we have experienced democracy
comes to 32 years, so there’s a lot to be said”.
The Founder of
Agora Policy said the incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari has served his two
terms, and thus he’s not contesting.
He said the
election is a three or four-horse race as one of the opposition parties is
coming out strong against the popular dominant incumbent and main opposition
party.
The three
front-runners include 70-year-old Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of Buhari’s party, the All
Progressives Congress (APC).
He is a former
governor of Nigeria’s wealthy Lagos State.
The main
opposition leader and former vice president Atiku Abubakar, of the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP).
Peter Obi is
from the not-too-popular party, Labour Party.
Nigeria, just
like Ghana is also faced with an economic crisis.
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