In a statement signed by the convener, Mekunnu Koya, Comrade Wale Balogun, the group said Nigerians must rise in unity and sustained resistance to defend the sanctity of the ballot, insisting that electoral reform must be secured before elections, not mourned afterward.
A pro-democracy group, Mekunnu Koya, has issued a sweeping call for nationwide mobilisation, warning Nigerians not to allow President Bola Tinubu, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, or a handful of political merchants to impose their will on more than 200million citizens through electoral manipulation, repression, and elite conspiracy.
In a statement signed by the convener, Mekunnu Koya, Comrade Wale Balogun, the group said Nigerians must rise in unity and sustained resistance to defend the sanctity of the ballot, insisting that electoral reform must be secured before elections, not mourned afterward.
“We must not allow Tinubu, Akpabio, and a handful of political merchants to impose their will on over 200 million Nigerians. The people must rise in unity to say NO,” the statement read.
According to the activists, Nigerians must mobilise, organise, and coordinate sustained, peaceful mass resistance to ensure that votes count and mandates stand.
“Our votes must count. Our mandates must stand. Genuine electoral reform must be secured before elections, not lamented afterward,” the group said.
The movement lamented that many Nigerians once believed the end of military dictatorship marked the triumph of democracy and guaranteed free, fair, and credible elections. However, he argued that those hopes have steadily been eroded.
“Sadly, since 2015, successive APC governments have steadily reversed hard-won democratic gains, replacing popular sovereignty with manipulation, repression, and authoritarian civilian rule,” the statement said.
Mekunnu Koya accused the ruling party of entrenching a system that undermines the people’s will while normalising social and economic injustice, particularly against the poor.
The statement also condemned the growing normalisation of land grabbing and forced evictions in Lagos communities, including Makoko, Oworonshoki, Otumara, Okobaba, and Owode-Onirin.
“Poor Nigerians are rendered destitute daily, with many forced to sleep on the streets, stripped of dignity and livelihood,” Koya said.
Even more disturbing, according to him, is the role of regime apologists and data manipulators who justify such actions.
“They have traded conscience and integrity for access, contracts, and patronage,” he alleged.
Drawing parallels with Nigeria’s past, Koya recalled the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, widely believed to have been won by Chief MKO Abiola.
“Nigeria once had a historic opportunity to rebuild the lopsided post-colonial state through the June 12, 1993 presidential election,” he said, adding that the mandate was “criminally annulled by the Maradonic regime of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, the self-acclaimed ‘evil genius.’”
According to him, the same “template of self-perpetuation, deceit, and elite conspiracy” is now unfolding under the Tinubu-led APC government.
The group declared that only enemies of Nigeria’s democratic future would oppose electronic transmission of election results.
“The refusal to adopt this globally accepted democratic safeguard exposes the real agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC, and the Senate leadership under Godswill Akpabio, now reduced to a rubber stamp and errand arm of executive lawlessness,” Balogun said.
The group described the Senate’s posture as evidence of a grand design to undermine credible elections despite overwhelming support for electronic transmission from civil society groups, joint National Assembly committees, and other stakeholders.
However, Mekunu Koya dismissed claims that President Tinubu is committed to Nigeria’s development.
“Contrary to his pretensions, Tinubu does not love Nigeria, Nigerians, or our collective socio-political and economic development. Tinubu loves Tinubu—his power, his interests, and his self-perpetuation,” he said.
The group argued that if the President genuinely cared about Nigerians, his administration would not have unleashed “unprecedented hardship, mass hunger, inflation, unemployment, despair, and insecurity” on the population.
Balogun further questioned the ruling party’s claims of popularity, pointing to alleged inducements used to secure defections.
“If Tinubu were genuinely popular, there would be no need for arm-twisting, blackmail, and inducement of governors and lawmakers to defect to the APC,” he said.
“A popular government does not dangle ₦25 billion incentives before governors or shower legislators and political actors with obscene sums to secure loyalty in a country sinking into mass poverty and hopelessness.”
While acknowledging that governors may defect en masse to the APC, Makunu Koya insisted Nigerians would ultimately reject them at the polls.
“Political coercion, inducement, and manipulation cannot manufacture legitimacy,” they warned.
The activist also accused the Tinubu administration of indifference to insecurity, citing killings in Kaima and other parts of the country.
“The brutal killings in Kaima and other parts of the country appear to be of little or no concern to the APC-led presidency,” he said.
Instead, he criticised the President’s frequent foreign trips, describing them as “endless foreign junketing” under the guise of attracting investors.
“After spending over ₦34 billion on foreign travels, Nigerians are yet to see any meaningful inflow of investment, jobs, or economic relief,” Mekunnu Koya stated.
“What they experience instead is hunger, insecurity, and deepening poverty.”
Mekunu Koya argued that the mass importation of food would not save the government from electoral rejection.
“Over-taxed Nigerians lack the purchasing power to buy these imported foodstuffs. The crisis is not merely food scarcity but enforced poverty,” Balogun said.
He also recalled President Tinubu’s past public pledge not to seek re-election if electricity supply failed to improve.
“Today, power supply remains more epileptic than ever. Businesses are shutting down, households remain in darkness, and the cost of self-generated power has become unbearable,” he added.
“For Nigeria to move forward, the sanctity of the vote must be protected. Electronic transmission of election results is not a luxury; it is a democratic necessity,” Balogun said.