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.