Defections won’t strengthen Nigeria’s democracy – Agbakoba

Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Olisa Agbakoba, has said that defections of the politicians from one party to another would not strengthen Nigeria’s democracy.

Speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Monday, Agbakoba said Nigeria must begin to think about a system that works for the generality of the people since the Western model of democracy is “certainly not working” in the country.

“So I want the conversation to start by asking the question. Is this thing working for us?

“My own answer is that the Western model of democracy, maybe it’s working in Europe, but it’s certainly not working here. So, what is it that we can put on the table that will work?

“I think that the first thing to do is to recognize that this country is very divided along ethnic, religious, and linguistic lines,” Agbakoba said.

His comment comes amid the wave of defections from opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress, a development Agbakoba says won’t help the country.

“If the opposition thinks that they’re making any sense, I’d better tell them tonight they’re not. And if they think they have a chance for 2027, they have two years to wake up,” the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) said.

“But if the answer is to keep defecting, that’s not going to help Nigerians because it will not strengthen democracy. It would rather weaken it, and that’s the big shame. So, in reality, the real challenge is, ‘Where are those people who are prepared to sacrifice to be in the opposition and make it work?’ That is the challenge. That is the only way that Nigeria can work.”