(Pat Utomi. Photo by TheCable)
A political economist and democracy advocate, Pat Utomi, is pushing Nigerians to vote in massive numbers in 2027.
He says people need to take back control of their country through the ballot box.
He made the plea during a media event in Lagos, pointing to the country’s worsening economic crisis and people’s loss of faith in key institutions.
Elections are set for January 16, 2027, for president and the National Assembly, while governorship votes happen February 6.
The situation is dire, Utomi said. Poverty, hunger and anger are everywhere, and those conditions are being used to buy votes from desperate people.
He called on Nigerians to reject electoral tricks and hold institutions accountable for protecting democracy.
Compromised bodies must be forced to do their job or face consequences, he warned.
Public trust in courts, police, the anti-corruption agency and the electoral commission has hit rock bottom.
Institutions are falling apart, and that decay must stop if the country is to survive, he said.
Utomi’s group is planning to livestream voting in every polling station during 2027 to increase transparency and cut down on fraud.
The system will also have backup measures to prevent the technical problems that happened in 2023 and problems with the electoral body’s previous digital platform.
He highlighted how severe Nigeria’s economic crisis has become.
According to figures he cited from international agencies, 35 million Nigerians don’t have enough food, and around 139 million could be living in poverty by the end of 2026.
The hardship is hitting people who used to be self-sufficient.
Utomi said he started getting constant requests for money from people in need and initially thought he was being singled out.
Then he realized it was happening everywhere people who’d never asked for help before were now desperate.
The crisis is stripping Nigerians of their pride.
Begging, once shameful, has become normal.
