Veteran lawyer Barr. Amobi Nzelu says Nigeria’s Democracy Day masks a harsher reality. With 46 years at the Bar, the “Apo 6 lawyer” argues the country does not practice one democracy, but several: a militarized version, one for the rich, and another for the poor. Speaking with Ekuson Nw’Ogbunka, Our Consulting Editor on 2026 Democracy Day, in his Chambers in Abuja, he blames the judiciary, weak political will, and hunger for the country’s festering insecurity.
On Democracy Day, Nzelu’s assessment of Nigeria’s democracy is blunt. “Democracy, as it sounds, is government of the people, for the people, and by the people. But in Nigeria, it is not so,” he says. In his view, Nigeria runs multiple democracies: “home grown democracy,” “militarized democracy,” and “democracy for the rich and for the poor.”
He traces the country’s turbulent political history from 1914 amalgamation by Lord Lugard, through independence in 1960, republic status in 1963, and long spells of military rule. “If you check the number of years you’ve been a democratic country and the years you’ve been under military rule, military people took most of the time,” he notes.
For Nzelu, June 12 remains the wound that won’t heal. The 1993 election won across the board by Chief MKO Abiola was annulled “for reasons nobody can explain till today.” He says Democracy Day was moved from May 29 to June 12 by the late President Buhari to honour Abiola, but the substance of democracy is missing.
“Democracy in Nigeria has many faces, it depends on where you belong. It is not the government of the people for the people. It is the government of the rich and the well to do,” he laments. This year, he argues, the proper title should be “Insecurity Day” because that is what Nigerians are living through.
His alarm was triggered on a recent trip to Owerri. “While I was entering the airport I saw 300 Okada (Motorcycles) entering Owerri on a Saturday, some carrying one or two passengers. I raised an alarm: who are these people?” he recalls. To him, it reflects how ungoverned spaces are exploited for elections and violence.
Turning to insecurity, Nzelu supports state police in principle but warns of abuse. “The call for state police will go a larger extent in helping this country, but who controls the state police?” he asks. If left with today’s governors, he fears it could “lead to more destruction.”
He argues the real issue is not defence budgets but weapons flow. “There are beneficiaries of insecurity in this country. The real question is: how do these criminals get weapons? Some of these boys are armed, and after they serve their purpose, they are abandoned and pushed onto the streets.”
What will win the war against terrorism? His answer is one word: “Political will, period.” He says if leadership acts decisively, many interests will be affected because “some people benefit from the current state of insecurity.” He warns that security personnel themselves are demoralized and “know why these situations persist.”
On the Apo 6 case that made him famous, Nzelu says he is not tired of seeking justice. On June 8 it was 21 years since the six traders were murdered and buried in shallow graves at Utako. He pursued exhumation, autopsies, and prosecution, driven by what he describes as a dream: “Amobi, go and tell the whole world those boys they killed were not armed robbers.”
He recounts Inspector Suleiman Audu’s testimony that he refused to shoot at the oncoming vehicle, but another officer allegedly took his gun and “emptied the magazine into it, killing four people on the spot at Gimbiya Street.” A church, he adds, “became the scene of murder,” yet the judge said there was no evidence to convict.
“Extra judicial killing in Nigeria because who are you reporting to? The man you are reporting to is a beneficiary of whatever comes out of what they are doing,” he says. Despite setbacks, he insists justice work is driven by conscience, not fatigue.
On the State Police Bill before the National Assembly, Nzelu is skeptical of safeguards. “This is a country where laws are often ignored. Safeguards exist only if people are willing to obey them,” he says, noting that court injunctions are ignored daily and few public officials are jailed for disobedience.
He says the way out of Nigeria’s crisis is leadership and accountability. The President, he argues, must summon service chiefs and tell them: “I do not want this insecurity to continue. If you fail, you will be replaced.” He dismisses negotiation with criminals and stresses that professionals, not politicians, should run military operations.
Nzelu is scathing about political recycling. “From 1999 has Tinubu done any other job other than politics? Akpabio has done no other job apart from politics from 1999?” he asks. To him, politics has become a career for those who “die because they want to be there,” with “something they’re eating that we don’t know.”
He does not spare the Senate either. With Akpabio as Senate President, Nzelu calls him “a rubber stamp man” with “a lot of skeletons.” He questions unresolved EFCC allegations from Akpabio’s time as governor, asking why they have not been pursued.
On 2027 elections, he is blunt: “The elections will come and go, Tinubu will win. Remember this today what I told you.” He argues Tinubu is “inside the system” now, unlike Jonathan who was “outside.” He dismisses the opposition as “the same leprous hands” that migrated from PDP to ADC and NDC.
Local government autonomy, he says, cannot be enforced because governors are “little appendages of the president” whose support he needs. “Anything he’s going to do that will hurt the governors, he will not do it,” Nzelu argues, adding that the centre is too powerful and attractive.
His harshest words are for the judiciary. “If there is any war in this country hold the judiciary responsible. They have gotten into an area they’re not supposed to go into, i.e. the domestic matters of political party,” he says, citing the 1983 Okafor case. He says urgent appeals are delayed until time lapses, while “the one they want to hear is the one they hear.”
Still, he welcomes the bill to increase Court of Appeal justices from 70 to 110. He proposes seven Supreme Courts, one in each geopolitical zone plus Abuja, to reduce backlog. “As at today they are doing 2009 Supreme Court cases. They have 17 years backlog,” he says. Devolving power, he argues, will bring justice closer to citizens.
20. On poverty and local government, he links insecurity directly to hunger. “80% of Nigerians get off from bed in the morning, they don’t know where to get their next meal and there is a government in place,” he says. He points to untapped mineral resources while officials “come to Abuja cap in hand to share allocation… and change the money into dollars.” He pays his four lawyers between N150,000 and N250,000 and has never held political appointment in 46 years.
And on football, he is equally unfiltered: “Is it not a shame that an elephant is sleeping? Nigeria’s absence at the 2026 FIFA World Cup is an elephant sleeping and snoring. They get coaches but will not pay salaries. Empty stomach doesn’t hear ‘praise God’.”
