Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi’s running mate in the 2023 election, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has said political power in Nigeria is concentrated in the hands of one individual, whom he identified as President Bola Tinubu.
Baba-Ahmed made the claim during an interview on The Mic-On Podcast, hosted by Seun Okinbaloye.
He argued that the concentration of power in the presidency was contrary to the principle that sovereignty should belong to the people through an elected government.
According to him, citizens should be able to elect and install the leaders of their choice, while political power should ultimately remain with the people.
“People’s will must reflect in elections, at least that is one. Number two, the people must be able to impose or elect and install the leadership that they want in… And then number three, sovereignty, that is power, must belong to the people themselves through the elected government that they have elected to govern them,” he said.
“Right now, I have been saying, the power in Nigeria belongs to one individual. That individual, if he says something to happen, only God Almighty can stop it. And this is the reality.”
When asked if he was referring to the power of the Nigerian President, Baba-Ahmed replied, “That is how powerful our today’s Nigerian president… If he says something to happen, only God Almighty…”
The former vice-presidential candidate said the situation would have been different if Obi had won the 2023 presidential election.
Asked whether the concentration of power would have been the same under an Obi presidency, he said, “Um, it wouldn’t have been the same, because we would not have ruled Nigeria this way.”
Baba-Ahmed also challenged the conventional understanding of democracy, arguing that the existence of the executive, legislature and judiciary alone did not make a country democratic.
He said genuine democracy required citizens to defend their rights and ensure that their will was reflected in elections.
“What I understand to be democracy is that the people are the last line of defense. And what are they defending? Not in a state of war. They are defending their rights,” he said.
“So I said democracy belongs to he who can practise it. If you can’t practise democracy, it’s not for you.”
He accused Nigerians of failing to exercise their power, particularly in response to what he described as violations of the Constitution.
“The people are not appearing in Nigerian democracy. Where are they? Where are the people when the Constitution was violated? Nowhere to be found,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed maintained that citizens held the ultimate power in a democracy, while the courts had the final legal authority.
“The courts are final, the people are ultimate. The people’s voice is the voice of God. What the people do is right,” he said.
He also disclosed what he described as his formula for mass civic action, arguing that a sufficiently large number of Nigerians could compel political leaders to respond to their demands.
“I gave the formula. 100 people means nothing. 1,000 people, they could be shot. 10,000 people, they could be arrested, and some shot, and some teargassed. 100,000 people, they’ll look for your leaders and start making bank transfers and negotiating. 1,000,000 people, the helicopter will fly out of the Villa. I said it on TV. It’s a formula,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed rejected the description of his position as a call for revolution, saying he was advocating what he called “Legitimate Active Civic Engagement,” or LACE.
“Look, that is uprising. No, no. It is called L-A-C-E: Legitimate Active Civic Engagement. That is what it is called,” he said.
He added that he understood the “red line” and would not cross it.
Baba-Ahmed further criticised Nigeria’s democratic experience over the past 27 years, saying the country had failed to practise genuine democracy.
“You say again that it is of the people, for the people, by the people. What have we seen in Nigeria in at least 27 years now? It is government of politicians, for the privileged, by the powerful,” he said.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
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