The Labour Party’s 2023 governorship candidate for Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has strongly criticised the Democracy Day celebration, labelling it “pretentious and dubious.” He accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of eroding the core values upon which Nigeria’s democracy was founded.
In a statement shared via his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Thursday, Rhodes-Vivour expressed deep concern over the current state of governance, arguing that the promise of liberal and constitutional democracy — particularly the protection of civil liberties and individual rights — is being subverted under the APC-led administration.
“Liberal and constitutional democracies hold the promise of protecting individual rights and civil liberties. Beyond its promise of guaranteeing civil liberties, true democracies strive to deliver outcomes like economic prosperity and egalitarianism,” he stated.
Rhodes-Vivour alleged that rather than upholding these ideals, the current government has transformed the democratic system into what he described as a “monarchy,” where citizens are no longer treated as stakeholders.
“Instead of celebrating these virtues and values, the APC has turned what was a hard-fought democracy into a monarchy where citizens are reduced to subjects—where duty and honour have given way to sycophancy,” he said.
He further decried what he described as a climate of repression, citing the criminalisation of dissent, the weakening of the judiciary, and the misuse of state institutions for political gain.
Highlighting the insecurity affecting many regions across the country, Rhodes-Vivour questioned the government’s priorities, noting that while vulnerable communities remain unprotected, the political elite enjoy heavily guarded convoys.
“How can we call this a democracy where several villages in the middle belt, northeast and northwest are without state protection, yet the elites drive in convoys accompanied by elite forces?” he queried.
He also criticised the manipulation of electoral processes, arguing that the democratic will of the people is often thwarted through violence and intimidation.
“Or where the right to vote is often sabotaged with state-sponsored violence and harassment, ultimately trumping the ultimate will of the people?” he asked.
Concluding his statement, Rhodes-Vivour warned that Nigeria’s democratic experiment is in jeopardy, asserting that the current political trajectory is far removed from the vision of late Chief MKO Abiola and other democratic pioneers.
“Today’s Democracy Day celebration is not only pretentious but dubious. Because this is not the democracy that Chief MKO Abiola died for, nor the one our elders imagined. This experiment is failing, and that failure is being accelerated by the ruling party’s utter disregard for the rule of law and their parasitic appetite to amass and accumulate at the detriment of the people,” he stated.
