Renowned political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, says the political atmosphere in Lagos state does not give room for democracy to thrive.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Niche, an online news platform, Utomi said All Progressives Congress in Lagos State does not provide a level playing ground for opposition parties, especially Labour Party.
Utomi gave an instance of such brazen erosion of democratic ideals, noting that landlords in Lagos are not renting houses out to Labour Party to use as party offices.
He said, “In Lagos State, you cannot put up a poster. If you want to rent a house, for Labour Party, the landlord will say he doesn’t want APC people to come and burn down his house. You put up posters, they are torn within minutes.
“What kind of democracy is this? This is fascism that we are introducing into Nigeria. And I anticipated it. I wrote about it in a book that came out a couple of years ago – Why Not? It was about citizenship, state capture, creeping fascism and the criminal hijack of politics in Nigeria.
“So, you get these kinds of conditions that obviously are all targeted at stifling democracy and then you get the actors conducting themselves in manners where you see an erosion of the legitimacy of the process,” he said.
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