A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Jibrin Okutepa has described the Saturday, February 21, 2026, Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory as “treason against democracy” in Nigeria.
He particularly expressed grave concerns about the state of democracy in Nigeria, stressing that democracy is in serious danger in the country.
Okutepa, who stated these in a series of posts on his X handle on Sunday, therefore warned that the 2027 general elections will be “more terrible and brazen.”
He also said that staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission were not alive to their responsibility in some cases, emphasising that the mutilation of election results and arbitrary additions of votes as seen on forms EC8As on social media points speak volume of the rot in the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
The Constitutional lawyer of note, while condemning the conduct of the FCT Area Council elections, insisted that it was “democratic sabotage” and “gangsterism in practice”.
Okutepa particularly noted that the declaration of a work-free day by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike on Friday, February 20, 2026, was a prelude to the alleged rigging that took place.
In his words; “To call what happened on Saturday 21st February 2026, an election is completely an abuse of language. It is anything, but a free, fair and credible election.
“What happened on Saturday was never a free fair and credible election. It was democratic sabotage where people were prevented from coming out to vote due to unlawful and unconstitutional declarations of work-free day and restrictions of movement of people on the day of election.
“Those who engaged in this democratic imposition have committed treason against the people and against Nigerian constitution. The electoral malpractices were unconstitutional.
“The Nigerian constitution provides that Nigeria shall be a democratic state and that sovereignty belongs to the people. It provides that no part of Nigeria shall be taken over or governed otherwise than by democratic means.
“Stealing and stuffing ballot papers, thumb printing ballot papers to adding votes to make a particular person or party rejected by the people to be declared winner are all acts of democratic oppression and corruption. It is unconstitutional and treasonable felony,” he stressed.
Okutepa urged Nigerians to speak the truth about what happened, adding that rather than commending what happened in FCT, the people should be bold and courageous to call it what it is.
“It was treason against democracy. It was treason against the constitution. It was treason against the people of Nigeria. It was a clear case of democratic thuggery and thuggish imposition and not election rooted within the meaning of acceptable democratic principles.
“It was a show of force in sabotage of democracy. Nobody should beat his chest to have done well,” he insisted.
Okutepa said that the Nigerian opposition is weak and have allowed themselves to be captured by those they once hobnobbed together, adding that internal wrangling among political gladiators in the opposition has greatly diminished the legitimacy of the oppositions.
He further said; “Political leaders have heavily impoverished the people that poverty has now become the most potent political tool for undemocratic imposition of leadership”.
Okutepa said that for democracy to thrive in Nigeria, the people must reject manual collation of votes and demand as well as insist that any votes that has mutilations, cancellations, alterations and subtractions should not count and must not be counted.
He further said; “INEC leadership must have the liver and courage of convictions to cancel results that have alterations, cancellations, mutilations and such other interlineations on the face of electoral forms. At this age of technology, it is even a shame for us to be using forms to conduct elections.”
Okutepa highlighted what he described as evidence of manipulation, saying that in a particular polling unit, the total valid votes were 211, but a political party scored 1,212 votes in the same polling unit.
“Yet, someone asked if I voted in the sham election. There is no decent politics in Nigeria. What Nigerian politicians practice in most cases is gangsterism.
“Politics does not mean unethical behaviour, indiscipline and sabotage of due process as we see in Nigeria,” he said.
Okutepa clarified his political stance, saying; “I am not a member of any political party in Nigeria. My party is Nigeria. Nigeria belongs to all of us. We must develop it through due process and the rule of law.
“We have fundamental rights to express our views. We see evil we call it what it is. No amount of baptismal name we give to wrongs that can make it right,” he stated.
