Electoral Mandate Crisis Biggest Driver of Insecurity in Nigeria — Odinkalu

Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, has identified the illegitimacy of electoral mandates as the greatest source of insecurity in Nigeria, arguing that flawed elections and weakened public confidence in the judiciary continue to fuel violence across the country.

Odinkalu made the remarks on Thursday during an appearance on Arise Television’s Prime Time, where he spoke on the growing national conversation surrounding the establishment of state police as a strategy to address rising insecurity.

According to him, discussions on policing and security reforms cannot be separated from the underlying political and institutional challenges confronting the country.

He argued that citizens who lose faith in the electoral process and the justice system are more likely to resort to self-help and violent alternatives.

“The single biggest source of insecurity in Nigeria is the illegitimacy of electoral mandates,” Odinkalu said.

He explained that when people become convinced that their votes no longer matter and believe the courts cannot guarantee justice, frustration often translates into violence and vigilantism.

“When people discover that electoral mandates, their votes don’t count, the courts are not working for them, and judges have been bought, they resort to violence and vigilantism,” he stated.

Odinkalu stressed that any meaningful effort to reform Nigeria’s security architecture must begin with addressing the root causes of insecurity rather than focusing solely on policing structures.

He warned that introducing state police without resolving deeper governance and democratic deficits could create additional problems instead of lasting solutions.

“We cannot discuss insecurity and policing and forget all the other elements in the complex,” he said.

According to the former human rights commission chairman, an accurate diagnosis of Nigeria’s security challenges is essential before implementing reforms.

He cautioned that pursuing policing reforms without addressing electoral credibility, public trust and institutional accountability would amount to treating symptoms while ignoring the underlying disease.

“Unless, therefore, we want to deal with policing outside the diagnosis, in which case we can as well do that and create a new set of pathologies. But if we don’t want to do that, then we’ve got to be very careful,” he added.

His comments come amid renewed calls for state policing and broader reforms aimed at tackling Nigeria’s persistent security challenges.