A legal practitioner and public affairs commentator, Chief Asiwaju Kunle Kalejaye, SAN, has criticised what he described as the return of “garrison politics” in Nigeria, following recent comments by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on the August 2026 Osun State governorship election.
Kalejaye, in a commentary titled “The Return of Garrison Politics: Warning Shots to Democracy!”, argued that Wike’s statement about President Bola Tinubu being able to deploy him to secure an election victory “at all costs” raises serious concerns about the state of Nigeria’s democracy.
According to him, the comment, regardless of its intended context, creates the impression that government power and security machinery could be deployed to override the will of voters.
He said such rhetoric risks reducing democratic elections from a contest of ideas and performance to a struggle driven by political influence, state resources and coercive power.
Kalejaye traced the issue to Nigeria’s history of what he described as “garrison politics,” involving political patronage, monetary inducement, thuggery and the use of state power to influence electoral outcomes.
He cited the late Oyo State political godfather, Chief Lamidi Adedibu, as a prominent historical example of the phenomenon, noting his considerable influence over political office seekers and elected officials in the South-West.
The Senior Advocate also referenced previous elections in Nigeria, including the Second Republic, the 2003 and 2007 general elections, as well as the 2014 and 2018 Ekiti governorship elections, which he said were marked by allegations of political manipulation and heavy security presence.
Kalejaye warned that normalising statements suggesting that elections can be won through the deployment of government power could undermine the constitutional independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and weaken public confidence in the electoral process.
He further criticised the silence of the Presidency following Wike’s remarks, arguing that the absence of a public clarification or distancing from the statement could be interpreted as tacit approval.
According to him, this could have serious implications ahead of the 2027 general elections by creating fear and pessimism among voters while increasing tensions between the ruling party and opposition groups.
The commentator stressed that a free and credible election should not be treated as a favour granted by those in power, but as a fundamental democratic right of citizens.
Kalejaye concluded that political legitimacy cannot be manufactured through state power, insisting that it must come from Nigerians freely exercising their constitutional right to vote.
“For Nigeria to safeguard its democracy ahead of 2027, its leaders must remember that true political legitimacy cannot be manufactured. It must be freely given by the citizens at the ballot box where every vote must count,” he said.
