Dr. Sam Amadi, the Director, Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts has opined that the country is an autocratic state and no longer democratic, following proof of the just concluded general elections..
Dr Sam, a former chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission made the assertion in Abuja at the 2nd Ariyo Dare-Atoye Memorial Election Management and Governance Dialogue series, themed, “Is Nigeria a democracy? Reflection on the 2023 general election”.
In a statement he issued on Sunday, Amadi said the outcome of the 2023 general elections was not a reflection of the people’s choice, alleging that the conduct of the elections would further hew down public trust and participation of Nigerians in future elections in the country.
He described the elections as a ‘total desecration’, and wondered why politicians could not allow for a seamless, peaceful, and keenly contested electoral process, instead resorting to violence.
He lamented that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) refused to transmit results on the IREV, among other anomalies that greeted the 2023 general election, saying that they were lucid indicators that the elections were overtly flawed and the fundamental principles of democracy completely omitted during the elections.
According to him, “Nigeria is not yet a democracy because the fundamental features of democracy, the three of them coming to these elections, fair institutions that should provide equality for everybody, and guarantee basic freedoms have been denied largely in this election.”
