Obi also alleged that people are harassed on a daily basis because “there is no freedom of speech in Nigeria.”.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Labour Party (LP) 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has alleged that Nigeria is not practicing “democracy”.
He made this known recently while featuring on a programme on Arise Television.
According to the former Anambra State governor, a country without a vibrant legislative arm and an independent judicial system cannot claim it is practicing democracy.
He went on to say people with criminal records, unverified and forged school certificates are in charge of the country.
The LP chieftain, further claimed that people, including someone at his level in Nigerian society, are being harassed on a daily basis because “there is no freedom of speech in Nigeria.”
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Speaking during the interview, Obi said, “There is no democracy in Nigeria today; Nigeria is not a democratic country. Let’s stop telling ourselves lies. It is not a democratic country. So it’s not for the people.
“You can’t have a democracy without a functional and effective legislator, which you know we don’t have today.
“You can’t have a democracy without, again, an independent judiciary that fights for the common person. I can go on and on.
“In a democracy, it is clear there’s guidelines even you set for people vying for election, like in the Nigerian case, you have to talk about people must be qualified, they must have primary school, secondary school, university, and most attain certain age.
“That is not happening today. People are with unverified, forged certificates all over the place, criminal records and everything, and they are in charge.
“So you cannot say that it is [democracy]. Yes, maybe we are striving to be a democratic country, but where we are today is not. Look at what happened in Rivers that we mentioned, can you call that democracy?”
