Two former governors of Bayelsa and Rivers States, Senators Seriake Dickson and Rotimi Amaechi, have expressed concern over Nigeria’s electoral integrity, warning that persistent vote manipulation and growing voter apathy pose serious threats to the country’s democracy.
The duo spoke yesterday at the fifth anniversary lecture of First Daily newspaper, held in Abuja, with the theme “2027: How Can We Make Our Votes Count?” Speaking as chairman of the event, Dickson said electoral fraud as a “coup against the people’s sovereignty,” condemning the subversion of popular will through rigged elections.
“We have a long way to go in protecting the sovereignty that the constitution says belongs to the people. Rigging of elections is the worst coup you can plan,” he said. The Senator representing Bayelsa West lamented the collusion between politicians, security agencies, and electoral officials to falsify results, saying such actions violate citizens’ rights to freely choose their leaders.
He said: “When politicians and electoral umpires fabricate results that bear no relation to the votes cast, that’s a coup against democracy.” On his part, Amaechi, who was a former Rivers State governor and exMinister of Transportation, took a swipe at the political class, declaring that no sitting government is capable of delivering genuine electoral reform.
He said: “The problem with elections in Nigeria is that no incumbent government can achieve electoral reform — none. We tried it and failed.” He accused politicians of frustrating reform efforts for personal gain and faulted opposition parties for lacking focus and unity “The opposition is part of the problem. They are not discussing how to save Nigeria.
Nobody is asking how to change things,” Amaechi said. Amaechi also warned that widespread voter apathy enables rigging to persist. “The first solution to electoral reform is not government — it’s the people. The more you say the results are already written, the more people stay home.
That apathy will make the incumbent stay in power,” he added. Delivering the keynote address, the Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, Dr. Sam Amadi, criticised the close ties between political power and election management, warning that Nigeria’s democracy is being hollowed out by systemic corruption.
