Presidential Candidate of Labour Party (LP) for the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi, has said the country is not practicing true democracy even as the nation marks the June 12 Democracy Day.
According to Obi the country is deteriorating to dictatorship and classical state capture.
He expressed his views on the state of the nation on Wednesday in series of posts on his X handle, as part of his commentary on this year’s June 12 democracy day commemoration.
He said: “As our dear nation marks Democracy Day today, commemorating 25 years of striving to be a democratic country, the fundamental question for all of us remains: Are we truly democratic?”
“An unexamined life is not worth living, so it is now time to re-examine what we have been doing over this quarter of a century. Democracy, as we know, is the government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
“While we may say that in 1999 we started in earnest in the right direction, today we have deteriorated into what can be classified as classical state capture. Instead of benefiting all, it has become a deprivation to all.
“The consequences of not being a true democracy have led to leadership failures that have resulted in uncontrolled systemic corruption, high levels of insecurity, lack of freedom of speech, increasing poverty rates, and unprecedented levels of hunger and hardship, which remain unsolved and are growing geometrically”.
He said that true democracy should be people-oriented, where the rights of citizens are respected, the laws are obeyed, the leaders remain accountable to the people, and people’s welfare and care, especially for the poor, become paramount and high priorities.
He said, “Unfortunately, the opposite is the case in our situation.”
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