Time being so scarce ( only 24 hrs a day) of late with regard to economic assessments and realistic details I have only had time to be reliably informed by John Onyeukwu’s hardcore realism which always makes room for alternative,sane suggestions about how things should be properly done.
Just like abject pessimism, so too somnolence in and of itself, surely, is not a crime. It may well be the case that when it comes to Nigeria - Africa’s perpetually sleeping giant, the pro-government spin doctors and hackwriters are merely being delusional and only succeed in providing false comfort to the misinformed, the unwary, the weary, and the unaware.
“And the people that confronted him were many
And he was told but these few words
Which opened up his heart
“If ye cannot bring good news, then don’t bring any”
Not exactly, the so called Wicked Messenger is he, but as far as I can remember, it has always been disheartening to read people we rightly assume to be good-hearted, patriotic fellows such as Jibrin Ibrahim and other Nigerian commentators and critics like him ventilating their pessimism and disgust about the immediate future of Nigeria, at the beginning, middle, and end of every four yearly election cycle, a predictably repetitive election déjà vu
It’s the kind of writeup that would discourage foreign investments - and even tourism
So what effect should be expected when someone like Brer Trump gets a whiff of Jibrin Ibrahim’s Nigerian politics ?
Is he (Trump) not liable to burst out like with the kinds of not so nice things once vomited by P.W. Botha?
Hopefully, after the next election is successfully concluded and we are landed with the President and government that the people elected, after Mr President has appointed “a government of national competence" once again Mr President and the next government will hit the ground running which means that just like this time so too the next time, in the name of damage control the country’s good name will have to be rebranded and redeemed…
On Saturday, 29 August 2026 at 19:43:56 UTC+2 Jibrin Ibrahim wrote:
Red lines in the corruption of Nigeria’s political and electoral system
Jibrin Ibrahim, Deepening Democracy Column, Daily Trust, 28 August 2026
The essence of Nigeria politics is driven by a political economy model
in which the formal economy of the country has a separate existence
that is subordinated to a second more significant economic model in
which the real drivers of the are the political actors who inject and
subsequently extract liquidity into and from the system. My good
friend S. A. Ndanusa explains it in the following manner. Nigeria has
two economies. There is the official economy monitored by the National
Bureau of Statistics. That is where we find inflation, GDP,
unemployment, exchange rates and enough decimal points to persuade us
that our suffering has been carefully calculated. Then there is the
economy of politics. This second economy is not fully captured in
official statistics, although it may be one of the fastest growing
sectors in the country. It has investors, brokers, wholesalers,
retailers, consultants, apprentices and professional praise singers.
Its branches extend from Abuja to every state capital, local
government, ward and WhatsApp group.
He adds that it is the only sector in which nobody complains about a
shortage of liquidity during an election year. He concludes that the
political economy asks how power distributes wealth. The economy of
politics asks how wealth acquires power and what it expects after
making the acquisition. There is no element of the economy or society
that is today not dictated by the interests and desires of those who
have monopolized the country’s wealth. The tragedy of the system is
that no economic operator can survive outside the system of political
corruption. The system has today reached its zenith and even the
ordinary voter is being boxed into exchanging their vote for a
monetary payment. This has emptied the electoral system of issues,
principles and values as the mandate becomes an ordinary commodity.
In the recently concluded Osun governorship election, the two leading
parties were estimated to have spent over one hundred billion naira
each buying votes. This prompted the Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project (SERAP) to urge the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences
Commission (ICPC) “to urgently, jointly and transparently investigate
reported cases of vote-buying, financial inducement, illegal election
financing, voter intimidation, violence, misuse of public resources
and other electoral offences in connection with the 2026 Osun State
governorship election.” These oversight organisations have however
watched previous vote buying episodes without punishing guilty
parties.
The problem is that in practice, the Nigerian state is deeply
implicated and supports corruption in the electoral system. Of course,
I am aware that the law does not formally support it. Sections 125,
131 and 132 of the Electoral Act 2026 criminalises bribery, undue
influence and the use or threat of violence to influence voting. The
Act also establishes political-finance safeguards, including
contribution and expenditure limits and post-election disclosure
requirements under sections 91–94. In addition, Section 138(1) permits
an election to be questioned where it was invalid by reason of
‘corrupt practices or non-compliance with the provisions of this Act’,
while section 139 addresses non-compliance that may substantially
affect an election result.” The allegations of corruption preceding
election day, electoral bribery and other offences also raise concerns
under sections 14(2)(a), 15(5), 17(2)(a), 117 and 178 of the Nigerian
Constitution 1999 (as amended), which underpin democratic
participation and the right to free, fair and legitimate elections
free from corruption. The problem is that the law is useless if the
State refuses to prosecute those who violate its provisions.
In a situation in which the majority of the people voted into office
go in on the basis of corrupt acts, the entire society is sucked into
the system. The individuals who bribe for votes do so to reap the
financial rewards expected in the office. Those who have voted them in
have pocketed their own cash for their labour. The religious leaders
who prayed for victory in the elections have also received their pay
knowing fully well that the religion they preach condemns corruption.
Their communities, states, zones and regions also support the corrupt
political class. No one stands for moral and ethical values. That is
the contemporary tragedy of Nigerian society. We have lost our moral
compass.
I am fearful of the 2027 general elections. It is preparing to become
the highest manifestation of corrupt politics in the history of
Nigeria. The State, its resources and its agencies are all being
mobilised to ensure victory for corruption. President Bola Ahmed
Tinubu is fully mobilizing the State to deliver his desired outcome.
In the process, all the red lines are being crossed. His campaign
council not only has the major political office holders such as
governors and ministers. It has also incorporated the top technicians
of the State machine. For example, Dr. Abisoye, the DG of NIMC and
guardian of the data of all Nigerians is in the Council. She controls
the biometric fingerprints, the NINs identity, the photos and the
addresses of over 136 million Nigerians. That same woman is now the
Director of Data Management for the APC Presidential Campaign Council.
In election administration, the appearance of neutrality of
officialdom is fundamental. Why should the person that controls
official data of all Nigerians be given the opportunity to be able to
use such data for the interest of one candidate in the election who
also happens to be the sitting president of the country. The woman
sworn to protect our privacy as citizens is now working for a
political party. It is a flagrant conflict of interest and a threat to
the identity of every Nigerian citizen.
We also have in the APC Campaign Council Zacheus Adedeji, the Chairman
of the Nigerian Revenue Service. In his day job, he is charged with
collecting tax from all Nigerian workers, traders, companies and
businesses. He controls the revenue inflow for Nigerian government
projects and central to his collection strategy is investigating who
is wealthy in Nigeria and should be made to pay more tax. The same
person is now the Deputy Director of fund raising for President
Tinubu’s campaign. The risk of using the official data he has been
collecting for the campaign is very real. The distinction between
public interest and the personal campaign of President Tinubu has
essentially disappeared as the tax collector is transformed into the
campaign collector.
If the repositories of official data of the country are being dragged
into the campaign, the danger is that the law enforcement agencies
such as the police, army and DSS can be dragged in as well. In that
case, will they not add the judiciary, and indeed the entire State
machine. Citizens have a huge responsibility of monitoring and
resisting this incorporation of the machinery of the state into
election corruption even in the context of the already disturbing
commodification of the electoral mandate.
Professor Jibrin Ibrahim
Senior Fellow
Centre for Democracy and Development, Abuja
Follow me on twitter @jibrinibrahim17
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