Professor Udenta O. Udenta, a pro-democracy campaigner, has called for a Sovereign Commission for Democratic Sustainability and National Stability, arguing that Nigeria needs a formal mechanism to keep electoral competition from escalating into a national crisis. The proposal comes as political pressures build ahead of the 2027 general election, with incidents of pre-election violence already reported in several states.
Focus on national cohesion ahead of 2027
In a statement released on Monday, Udenta, who served as founding National Secretary of the Alliance for Democracy, said the central issue before the next presidential contest was not simply the identity of the eventual winner.
He said Nigeria must place democratic continuity and national cohesion above personal political ambitions. Elections alone, he argued, cannot create public trust or ensure lasting order; the more important issue is the condition of the country once the votes have been counted.
“Nigeria’s survival must matter more than the fortunes of any politician,” Udenta said, stressing that the country is permanent while political careers are not.
Proposed membership and election commitments
The suggested commission would assemble political, labour, academic, media and civil-society figures alongside the country’s highest elected officials. Its proposed membership would include:
- The incumbent president and the president-elect;
- All officially cleared presidential candidates;
- National leaders and chairmen of political parties;
- Representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and Academic Staff Union of Universities;
- Leaders of the Nigeria Union of Journalists; and
- Representatives of civil society organisations.
Udenta said the body should operate as a working forum for resolving tensions, rather than becoming another gathering of retired political leaders and former officeholders issuing statements that are subsequently ignored.
He proposed that political parties and their presidential contenders sign up to seven pre-election undertakings, beginning with an agreement to participate in the commission irrespective of who wins the election. Membership, he said, would arise solely from a person’s status as a presidential candidate.
The wider set of proposals includes:
- A commitment by the election winner to convene the commission after the poll;
- The formation of an 18-month, time-limited government of national unity selected on competence;
- Reforms intended to curb the winner-takes-all structure of presidential power;
- Legislation establishing audited state financing for qualifying political parties;
- Proportional representation within the executive branch;
- A national conversation on an Afrocentric model of democracy; and
- The return of cabinet-level special advisers responsible for inter-party engagement and relations with civil society.
Party funding, accountability and post-election timetable
On party financing, Udenta pointed to public-support systems used in Germany, Sweden, South Africa, Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania. He said transparent subsidies linked to verified election-performance benchmarks could lessen parties’ reliance on affluent sponsors, build stronger party structures and enable credible opposition groups to remain active between election cycles.
Such a system, he said, should not be subject to the preferences of the governing party. Instead, it should be supported by mandatory disclosures, independent auditing and sanctions for misuse.
Udenta also set out a proposed sequence for action after results are announced:
- Within 72 hours of the declaration, all presidential candidates should make a joint appeal for calm and direct any disputes through legal channels.
- The commission should convene its first official session within 30 days.
- It should issue detailed recommendations within 100 days, after which the president would be obliged to provide a public response.
He cautioned that stability should not be mistaken for silencing opposition or criticism. A country cannot be considered stable merely because people are frightened to express their views, he said.
In Udenta’s view, durable democracy requires citizens to differ without violence, journalists to conduct investigations free from intimidation, courts to function without political pressure and peaceful demonstrations not to be treated as treasonous acts.
He added that opposition parties must remain free to challenge the government. A citizen who voted for an unsuccessful candidate, he said, does not become any less Nigerian once election results are declared.
Reducing centralisation and reshaping political competition
Beyond changes to election management, Udenta urged Nigeria to strengthen its federating units and institutions at the subnational level. He argued that the heavy concentration of authority and resources in Abuja has made the struggle to control the Federal Government an all-or-nothing contest.
He also called for political competition to be built around policies and ideas rather than ethnicity and established interests. His objective, he said, was a national political landscape defined by ideological positions rather than ethnic identities.
The professor said he had started consulting citizens from civil society, universities and across the political divide in an effort to advance the proposal. He urged voters to demand accountability from aspirants before they enter public office.
Udenta said his generation had lived through military government, democratic transitions, and the emergence and decline of political parties. The lesson, he said, is that no individual is indispensable, but Nigeria is.
He said future generations should inherit a country where victory at the polls carries responsibility, electoral defeat does not amount to political extinction, and every citizen continues to belong to the republic. He asked Nigerians whether they would help create a democracy serving the entire country or retain a system in which each election risks deepening division.
Political contest and rivalry are essential components of democracy, Udenta said, but they should not weaken national institutions. Nigeria’s ability to endure and prosper, he added, depends on a shared commitment to the national interest.
