ARISE News analyst Dayo Sobowale has argued that democracy loses its meaning when elections are manipulated, insisting that no government can claim legitimacy where the electoral process is neither free nor fair.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE News on Friday, Sobowale reacted to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s remarks questioning whether democracy necessarily leads to economic growth, saying Jonathan had raised a thoughtful and necessary debate on governance and development.
According to him, while democracy is widely promoted as the preferred political system, its real value depends on whether it produces legitimacy, stability, and economic progress for citizens.
“You can’t have democracy and illegitimacy,” he said.
Sobowale explained that democracy only works when citizens are genuinely allowed to choose their leaders through transparent and credible elections, stressing that flawed electoral processes weaken institutions and public trust.
“For democracy to be meaningful and be respected, it has to be legitimate. You need to have free and fair elections periodically for the people to make a choice,” he stated.
He warned that once elections are manipulated to keep leaders in power, democracy becomes empty and loses its moral authority.
“But when you rig the elections, and the election is not free and fair, then you make a mockery of democracy,” he added.
Sobowale further described democracy in Africa as a borrowed political model inherited through colonialism, arguing that it was imposed rather than developed from indigenous governance traditions.
He pointed to countries such as China and the United Arab Emirates as examples of alternative systems that have achieved economic growth and political stability outside Western democratic structures.
Despite his criticism, Sobowale did not reject democracy entirely, but called for reforms that ensure credible elections and governance systems better suited to Nigeria’s realities.
“Let’s have free, fair elections. That would be democracy,” he said.
He concluded that unless Nigeria resolves the legitimacy crisis surrounding elections, democracy will remain unable to deliver accountability, prosperity, or lasting public confidence.
By Triumph Ojo
