Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), says electoral malpractice persists in Nigeria because citizens fail to actively defend their votes and hold the electoral process accountable.
Speaking during an engagement with supporters on a recent visit to the United States, the former Anambra governor argued that the responsibility for ensuring credible elections rests not only with political leaders and institutions but also with voters.
“Elections in Nigeria are rigged because Nigerians want them to be rigged. It’s as simple as that,” Obi said.
The former governor said he would continue to do everything possible to safeguard votes but noted that meaningful change would require greater civic participation from Nigerians.
“I will do whatever is possible to protect the votes, but unless Nigerians decide that their votes will count, it will not count,” he said.
According to Obi, many voters abandon the electoral process immediately after casting their ballots instead of ensuring that their votes are properly counted.
“If you vote and stay there and say this vote must be counted, it will be counted,” he said.
“But Nigerians will vote and go home when they should actually stay and monitor the counting process.”
TRANSACTIONAL POLITICS
He attributed the problem partly to what he described as the transactional nature of Nigerian politics and the tendency of citizens to focus solely on personal concerns rather than collective national interests.
“The average Nigerian doesn’t know who his problem is,” Obi said.
“Because our politics is transactional, people vote and leave, thinking only about themselves and expecting God to solve their problems.”
The NDC presidential candidate maintained that Nigeria’s challenges are rooted primarily in poor leadership rather than a lack of resources.
“Nigeria has only one problem,” he said.
Obi argued that the country possesses abundant human and natural resources but has failed to maximise them because of ineffective governance.
“God gave Nigeria everything,” he said.
“I can tell you Nigeria is more blessed than this country (US). What we have is a leadership problem.”
He urged Nigerians to become more actively involved in the democratic process if they want to see meaningful change in governance and national development.
