Amaechi, Ezekwesili Urge Nigerians to Demand Accountability, Call for Electoral Reform

Former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, has accused some prominent politicians who once opposed former President Muhammadu Buhari’s electoral reform agenda of now pretending to champion the same cause they previously sabotaged.

Speaking at the National Electoral Reform Summit in Abuja, Amaechi said many of those now calling for change were the same figures who pressured Buhari not to sign the landmark Electoral Amendment Bill during his administration.

> “When we were in government, President Buhari promised to leave behind electoral reform that would make every vote count,” he said. “But some politicians stopped him from signing the bill. Ironically, those same people are now shouting the loudest about reform.”



Amaechi condemned what he described as the hypocrisy of the political class, arguing that many leaders only support reform when it benefits their personal interests.

> “In Nigeria, reform depends on where the stomach faces,” he quipped. “When they’re comfortable, they oppose it. When they lose power, they suddenly become reformists.”



He lamented that the failure to institutionalize credible elections has kept the country trapped in a cycle of deceit, with the same political elite alternating between holding office and pretending to oppose the system.

Amaechi, who served as Director-General of Buhari’s 2015 and 2019 presidential campaigns, said the refusal to sign the bill remains one of Buhari’s biggest political mistakes, one that continues to undermine the country’s democracy.

> “That single decision denied Nigeria a chance to secure fairness in elections. If he had signed it, we wouldn’t still be talking about reform today,” he stated.



Turning to the Bola Tinubu administration, Amaechi warned that the government risks repeating history if it fails to allow truly credible elections.


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Also speaking at the summit, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education and co-convener of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, described Nigeria’s democracy as being in “moral and institutional crisis.”

She lamented that the country’s political system has become what she called a “courtroom democracy,” where judicial rulings, rather than citizens’ votes, determine election outcomes.

> “Our democracy has been reduced to courtroom contests instead of citizens’ choices,” she said. “This delegitimizes the power of voters to choose their leaders.”

Ezekwesili, a former World Bank Vice President, said inconsistent court judgments since 1999 have eroded public confidence in both the judiciary and the electoral process.

> “There was a time when Nigerians could trust the judiciary,” she said emotionally. “That trust has vanished, and that breaks my heart.”

She recalled her early voting experiences in the 1990s and lamented that the promise of democracy in 1999 had been betrayed by systemic failure, corruption, and institutional capture.

> “We have practised democracy only in name,” she said. “The 2023 general elections were an unmitigated disaster that destroyed public trust in INEC. True reform must start with ensuring the Commission’s full independence and transparency.”


Meanwhile, the Unified Nigeria Youth Forum (UNYF) criticized successive governments for ignoring the warnings of the late statesman Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who, over four decades ago, cautioned that Nigeria was heading toward crisis without visionary and selfless leadership.

UNYF President, Olajide Toriah, said Awolowo’s 1981 warning about “frightful dangers” now mirrors Nigeria’s current reality of insecurity, poverty, and moral decay.

He urged the Tinubu administration to ensure that the 2027 general elections break the cycle of mediocrity and restore trust in leadership.

> “Nigeria needs leaders committed to justice, equity, and reform, not another generation of promises without purpose,” he said.