In this interview with YINKA OLADOYINBO and BUSOLA OWORU, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Niyi Akintola, speaks on the recently signed Electoral Act 2026, judicial processes and political activities in Oyo State. Excerpts:

What is your take on the controversies that surrounded the passage of the 2026 Electoral law?

There is no controversy as far as I am concerned. Don’t forget that Nigeria is a work in progress. The politics and dynamism of it too are something that should be taken into consideration. Don’t put things in a straight jacket like most critics would want to do. People have forgotten so because our memory is very short in this time because people don’t read and that has been the bane of Nigerian society, even among the so-called elite who have forgotten that a little while ago, in 2007, people were decamping to PDP. Before the 2007 election, they had 31 governors.

Show me one country in the world where electronic transfer is the only source of releasing election results. Is it USA, Canada, Australia, UK? None of those countries practise it. Why is it that people always stretch these democratic rights which all of us enjoy under the constitution. There is no absolute freedom anywhere in the world, and it’s because many people don’t read. They don’t appreciate the difference between what ought to be and what is.

Now, if you make electronic transfer of election results, you are the sole decider. What will become of all those local governments that don’t have network signal? There are four local governments between Ido-Ibarapa in Oyo State and Ijebu-Ode in Ogun state and they don’t have network signals. Why is it that you people don’t think outside the box? The problem with many is that they think what they don’t know does not exist. Always give room to the fact that others too probably know what you don’t know. So there is no controversy. I think the Senate has done their best in the circumstances.

Don’t forget, we lawyers, some of us, about three, four or five of us were handling election petitions, drive the previous amendment to the Electoral Act. In fact, most of the amendments that were carried out in 2010 up to 2022 were judicially driven. Those amendments were made based on judicial pronouncements. For instance, I did the case of Atiku Abubakar against INEC where the Supreme Court ruled that they should neither screen nor disqualify any candidate.

So why can’t people follow this trajectory? Some of these issues have been taken to court and the court has pronounced on them, and then the National Assembly now gives it a stamp. What is the coverage of GSM operators in our country? Nigeria is a very huge country, many people don’t know. In my local government, Ido, there are some areas there that will not even get reception. So why are people deceiving themselves? The report says that Nigeria has a coverage of about 94 million subscribers. Yes, does that mean that it covers the entire inch and breadth of Nigeria? I alone have nine handsets.

The opposition believes that the ruling party has a hidden agenda. With the way and manner the electoral law was passed and signed by the president. Do you agree with this?

Don’t forget that this thing was subjected to public hearing. The truth of the matter is that the opposition is lazy. They are lazy and they are suffering from that cankerworm called disunity.

Most of the time they generalise a lot, they will say “people are saying”, who are the people? Tell me you are speaking for yourself. Of course, the majority will have their way, minority will have their say and that’s a form of democracy. What are those sections that have been inserted that were not supposed to be there? What was their position? Did they present alternative position? What were their contributions? They have no alternative position and they are not united.

Who are these people in the opposition? Is there any opposition? There is no ideology, no principle. They are in this party today, they are in that one tomorrow, I don’t see them as being serious. The opposition wants to put it in the door steps of the media, should the media do the thinking for you? Shouldn’t they have a think tank? They should go and work it out, how politics was practised in the past.

The UPN, AG, which I was a pioneer legal adviser for, I was the legal mind. We are always ahead of the ruling party. The one we don’t allow, we will go to court. See the number of cases that emanated from Lagos State alone against the Obasanjo regime. Some of these were not merely to win, but just to draw the attention of the public, to generate ideas over it. But they are not willing to do that. No think tank, no legal team, no media team, no intelligence team. Then what type of opposition is that?

Sir, one of the provisions of this new electoral act is that all cases should be dispensed before the swearing-in. How feasible is this, sir?

Of course, I have been involved since 1999. It is possible and it is already in operation. The section 285 is very clear. That with due certainty, we must do a little bit of tinkering and that even before now a timeline was given that all pre-election matters must be concluded, that interlocutory applications should not be taken. While taking the decisions or ruling on it should wait until substantive matter? It’s just to ensure that we streamline.

There was a time when we were doing election petitions in this country for three years, over one seat. The person you are challenging his seat would have finished his tenure and the case will still be in court. Some were adjudged not to have won the election validly but they finished their tenures, so it becomes academic.

The Supreme Court recently ruled that party issues should not be dabbled into by the court, but this still persists.

Yes, but some courts are not listening; the lower courts, the state and Federal High Courts are culprit of that and high court of the Federal Capital Territory, and that’s why some of us have been clamouring that this judges should be sanctioned. I think the NJC should wield the big stick of not just warning or suspension, it should be outright dismissal. Anyone that entertains internal affairs of political parties should be dismissed.

That’s my recommendation. That will put them in their toes. Of recent, the Justices of the Supreme Court had to cry out, warning them. Apart from NJC’s instruction, apart from the Supreme Court’s decision, the Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Ogunmiju said high courts should beware, they should steer clear, but it is unfortunate that some are still fishing in troubled waters.

Just like the issue of screening and disqualifying candidates before Atiku Abubakar against INEC was decided. INEC was doing that they will screen you out. So, we had to go to court. This same day, I was the counsel that led that team. So, we did it before Justice Kowumi won. We went to Court of Appeal before Abdulkadir, we lost. We went to the Supreme Court, and we won. It has become the law.

The National Assembly has made a law that only approved consensus and direct primaries; don’t you think this is limiting the options available to political parties?

Don’t forget that some of these political parties have said that they are going to challenge this. Well, I think you can’t have perfect legislation anywhere in the world. In as much as I believe that the National Assembly has done the right thing in the circumstances but it is not yet to hold. You have to appreciate the fact that this same amendment you are talking about was originated by the same people. What was the complaint? That indirect primaries bring corruption. You buy delegates. I know of a man in this country that gulps over $10 billion, not Naira, $10 billion. Where a delegate was collecting $100,000, $50,000, and because of that, people cried against it. Let’s cancel indirect primaries. Nigeria is a very funny country. In the US, election is done from bottom up. But in Nigeria, it’s top to bottom. That’s where the problem lies.

What is bad in having direct primaries? If you agree that you don’t want primaries, you can do consensus, all of you will ratify your choice and it’s still an election.

You used to be a chieftain of the APC, may we know the reasons why you decided to dump partisanship?

Well, apart from the fact that I was made the Asiwaju of my local government, people are getting me involved with so many communal duties. In the Ibadan land, in Oyo State in particular, and I cannot be in partisan politics and be playing that role. For this, I am the Asiwaju of Ido local government. I have not disappointed them. I’ve been bringing so many things to them. And even though I am not in government, I’ve been attracting so many, apart from my own personal effort.

So again, in the larger Ibadan, I am playing so many roles. I am the right-hand man of the Olubadan of Ibadan land. So, I belong to all of them. That’s not to say that I don’t have my opinion. So, that’s how it stands.

What is your view on the agitation for power shift in Oyo State?

I think people are missing the point. They are not addressing the issue they should be addressing. Has there been any time in this state that elections have been conducted that people from other zones have not contested? People from Ogbomosho, Oke-Ogun, Oyo have all been contesting. So the question of power shift, I don’t understand what it means.

Maybe you want to say that Ibadan people should fold their arms. You cannot have something on a straightjacket. It’s my right. If you say people should not, if I decide to contest, can you stop me? Has anybody ever been stopped from contesting from other zones? No, so everybody is entitled to contest. Democracy means everybody participates. Not guided-democracy. Some people want a militarized something. (TRIBUNE)