2027 Must Not Repeat the Mistakes of 1966 & 1983

By Dr. Igbinosa Ogbeide-Ihama.

The recent decision by the Federal High Court in Lokoja to set aside its earlier judgment on the registration of the *Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC)* raises serious questions about the state of our democracy.

While courts have the power to review their own decisions in certain circumstances, this development sends a troubling signal at a time When people have less freedom to take part in politics.

I have always believed that speaking truth to power is a duty, not a choice. What we are witnessing today — *the systematic weakening of opposition parties, the manipulation of judicial processes, and the desperation of a ruling party clinging to power* — is a dangerous path. We have seen this movie before. The greed and power-drunkenness that led to the 1983 military coup, which ended the Second Republic under President Shehu Shagari, should serve as a permanent warning. No democracy survives when those in power treat opposition as an enemy to be crushed rather than a competitor to be outdone.

I say this with every ounce of conviction in my bones: the scenario of 1983 ought to be enough to terrify any power-drunk politician. The greed. The obsession with power at all costs. The belief that the office is a birthright, not a temporary trust. These were the sins that invited Major General Muhammadu Buhari to overthrow the democratically elected government of Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Shagari in that infamous palace coup. The first and second Republic died not because democracy failed, but because politicians killed it with their own hands.

President Bola Tinubu would do well to remember that Goodluck Jonathan did not stop the APC from rising. Muhammadu Buhari did not block opposition parties from contesting elections. Power is transient. No leader rules forever. The desperation we see today — the scheming to deny opposition parties registration, the abuse of judicial processes, the fear of even the weakest challenger — suggests a ruling party that has lost confidence in its own record and its own people.

The National Council of State must convene an emergency meeting to caution the President and remind him that democracy thrives on competition, not coercion. The APC must bury any conceived plan to weaken or disqualify opposition parties ahead of 2027.

Let the playing field be level. Let the people decide.

A new Nigeria is possible ✌🏽