Wabara in a phone chat from the US, said concerted efforts were needed to safeguard Nigeria’s fledgling democratic rule given dangerous signals that could mar the forthcoming 2027 polls.
He said the consultations, which cut across party lines, were aimed at mobilising progressive Nigerians at home and abroad “to defend the country’s democratic institutions, preserve political pluralism and resist any attempt to undermine the nation’s multi-party system.”
According to him, the ongoing meetings with Nigerians in the diaspora and “some officials”, centred on the growing concerns over the state of Nigeria’s democracy, the shrinking democratic space and the urgent need for patriotic forces to unite in defence of constitutional governance.
He said participants expressed grave concern over the undisguised attempts to suffocate opposition parties, the erosion of public confidence in the neutrality of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the danger of weakening Nigeria’s democratic foundations.
“The common objective of these consultations is to rescue Nigeria from state capture, free up the democratic space and ensure that the will of the people, not the will of a few powerful individuals, prevails in 2027,” he said.
The former senate president described the consultations as “very fruitful”, adding that a broad national consensus would emerge on how to extricate Nigeria from “state capture” and restore confidence in the electoral process.
He expressed alarm over the state of health of Nigeria’s democracy, saying its present condition was the most critical since the return to civil rule in 1999, hence it needed special care to survive the effects of deadly blows from anti-democratic forces.
He said: “Our democracy is currently in the ICU (intensive care unit as in health facility). Unless urgent and sincere efforts are made to strengthen our democratic institutions and guarantee credible elections, the future of our nation could be endangered,” he said.
