Foremost banker and economist Mohammed Hayatu-Deen has warned that Nigeria’s democracy faces a dangerous erosion following recent decisions by the Independent National Electoral Commission that he says threaten the integrity of the electoral process.
In a statement released on Friday, Hayatu-Deen expressed grave concerns about what he described as a shrinking democratic space, cautioning that actions capable of excluding legitimate political participation could undermine public trust in elections.
“When a commission charged with protecting participation instead restricts it, we must ask: in whose interest does it act?” he said.
He pointed specifically to INEC’s move to revalidate the national voters register and its decision not to engage with or receive correspondence from the African Democratic Congress, warning that such actions carry serious democratic consequences.
“Any action that potentially disenfranchises voters or prevents a political party from fielding candidates strikes at the core of democratic rights,” he said.
“Democracy is not merely a calendar of elections. It is a covenant, one that demands equal access, transparent rules, and the unshakeable confidence of citizens that the process is fair.”
Hayatu-Deen cautioned that once public confidence is weakened, the damage extends well beyond any single election.
“Once that confidence is undermined, the legitimacy of every outcome that follows is called into question. Nigeria cannot afford that erosion.”
He placed the electoral concerns within the wider security and economic pressures facing the country, arguing that institutional integrity and the daily hardships of ordinary Nigerians are directly connected.
“The two are inseparable. Weaken the institutions, and you weaken the nation’s capacity to heal itself,” he said.
While insisting his intervention was not partisan, he warned that democratic decline rarely announces itself loudly.
“The gradual erosion of democratic norms is rarely dramatic. It announces itself in quiet exclusions, and in institutions that bend just enough to serve power. But the consequences, when they fully arrive, are often devastating.”
He called on those in authority to act with restraint and fidelity to the rule of law, and urged Nigerians across political divides to remain vigilant.
“The preservation of our democracy is not the work of any single party or person. It is a shared responsibility,” he said.
Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, OON, is a Nigerian economist, banker, and elder statesman from Bama, Borno State. Over a four-decade career he rose to become Group Managing Director of the New Nigeria Development Company before transforming FSB International Bank from a failing government institution into a major commercial lender, widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s most successful privatisation stories. A two-term chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, he has served on the boards of institutions ranging from the Nigerian Stock Exchange to the World Economic Forum. He was conferred with the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger in 2000. In the 2023 general elections, he was an aspirant for the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.
