Human rights lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has faulted the proposed bill seeking to make voting mandatory in Nigeria, stating that he would rather be imprisoned than obey such a law.
Agbakoba, who made this declaration on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television on Monday, condemned the attempt of the National Assembly to enforce compulsory voting, arguing that it fails to address the root causes of voter apathy in the country.
“Look at the ridiculous one in the National Assembly about voting being compulsory. If that bill were to pass, I would say, ‘Agbakoba, we will not obey it.’ I’ll plead conscientious objection. I’d rather go to prison for six months than to obey it,” he said.
The senior lawyer questioned the rationale behind the bill, saying, “Why would the National Assembly want to impose compulsory voting? Why don’t they reverse the question and say, Why are Nigerians not interested? What is the apathy about?”
According to him, voter disengagement stems from years of exclusion and unfulfilled political promises, not a lack of civic responsibility, adding that exclusion is at the heart of Nigeria’s democratic failure.
The rights lawyer, while looking ahead to the 2027 general elections, maintained that he has noticed a troubling pattern, warning that democracy in Nigeria cannot succeed if it continues to serve only a select elite.
When asked whether the real issue is the attractiveness of public office and the consistent failure of leadership, Agbakoba restated that Nigeria’s political failure is the core reason behind low voter turnout. the bill, which. scaled second reading in the House of Representatives, seeks to mandate voting for all Nigerians of eligible age in national and state elections.
The bill is jointly sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and a Labour Party lawmaker, Daniel Asama Ago.