Professor Akinyemi Onigbinde is a professor of political philosophy with a specialty in public policies, politics, and governance. He is currently the Executive Secretary of the Centre for Development and Policy Studies located in Ogun State. In an interview with DARE ADEKANMBI, he reflects on the state of the nation, the last elections, and suggests a way forward for Nigeria. He believes that Nigeria is not a democracy and that what we have is “a state capture by the political class running a criminal enterprise called government, with pretenses to periodic voting exercise that is no more than partitioning and allocation of privileges to camouflage a feudalistic mindset.”
According to him, state capture has been happening in the country over the years. He further argues that politicians have captured even the judiciary, citing the pronouncements of the Supreme Court on Senators Ahmed Lawan and Godswill Akpabio. He also mentions the case of Imo State, where whoever has access to the judiciary gets the votes. Professor Onigbinde believes that election rigging no longer has finesse, as it used to be, and that people now go to queue behind the person who can give them food. He suggests that what we have is a civilian administration and not a civil administration because there is nothing civil about the way these people come to power. He concludes that Nigeria needs electoral reform to create a level playing field for all contestants.
