Human rights advocate and 2027 presidential aspirant, Abayomi Mighty, has condemned in the strongest terms the proposed bill seeking to enforce compulsory voting in Nigeria, describing it as a blatant attempt by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to lay the groundwork for a one-party authoritarian state, akin to China’s political structure.
In response to recent comments by respected legal minds such as Olisa Agbakoba SAN and Femi Falana SAN, Abayomi Mighty aligned with their constitutional objections but took the criticism further, alleging a sinister political agenda behind the bill.
“This is not about encouraging civic participation,” Abayomi Mighty declared, “it is about coercing citizens to legitimise a fraudulent system and consolidating the grip of a ruling elite that is out of touch with the people.”
Quoting Agbakoba’s appearance on Channels Television, where the senior advocate said, “I’d rather go to prison for six months than to obey it,” Abayomi Mighty echoed the sentiment of civil disobedience and urged Nigerians to prepare for mass resistance against legislative tyranny. Agbakoba had questioned the rationale behind the bill, stating, “Why would the National Assembly want to impose compulsory voting? Why don’t they reverse the question and say, Why are Nigerians not interested?” Abayomi Mighty emphasized that this critical question exposes the ruling class’ fear of public disengagement and their desperate push for forced legitimacy through unconstitutional means.
Responding to Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and Labour Party lawmaker Daniel Asama Ago, who jointly sponsored the bill and argued that mandatory voting would curb voter apathy and vote-buying, Abayomi Mighty did not mince words: “You cannot fix democratic apathy with dictatorship. You cannot legislate trust or passion. And you certainly cannot blackmail a disenfranchised people into endorsing the very system that exploits them.” He described the National Assembly’s support for the bill, including that of Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, as a betrayal of Nigeria’s hard-fought democratic struggle and an outright mockery of constitutional order.
Femi Falana, SAN, in his own statement titled ‘Compulsory Voting Is Not Enough’, had warned that the bill contradicted Sections 37, 38, 77(2), 135(5), and 178(5) of the 1999 Constitution, calling it both unconstitutional and unenforceable. Abayomi Mighty picked up this legal critique and hammered it home: “Any law that violates fundamental freedoms is not a law but a weapon. This is not legislation—it is political terrorism disguised as reform. Nigerians must not only reject it, they must organize to destroy its possibility.” He ridiculed the suggestion that millions of people could be prosecuted for refusing to vote, calling it a hallmark of tyranny and desperation.
In his scathing analysis of the ruling party’s motives, Abayomi Mighty insisted, “This is a scheme by Tinubu to institutionalise a one-party system, manufacture consent, and turn Nigeria into a democracy only in name. This is how dictatorship begins—through gradual legal manipulation and forced participation in fake elections. But Nigerians are awake, and we will resist it vehemently.” He called on civil society groups, student unions, labour organisations, and religious leaders to raise their voices now before the country is pushed off the cliff of totalitarianism.
Abayomi Mighty warned that if this bill is passed, it would be met with the fiercest resistance ever witnessed in the country’s democratic history. He called it a war declaration on the people’s conscience, and vowed to mobilize a nationwide campaign to block it. “Let it be known to those behind this unconstitutional charade that we are not afraid. We will not be caged by laws designed to serve the powerful and enslave the powerless. We will fight back—for our freedom, for our future, and for the soul of this nation.”