During the 2023 Nigerian general elections, Lagos witnessed a disturbing surge of voter intimidation as area boys and thugs linked to drug barons threatened Igbo residents with violence if they refused to vote for Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate.
A resurfaced social media post from the time captured the ominous ultimatum: support Tinubu or “collect bullets.” This stark warning underscored the volatile ethnic and political fault lines that defined the election season in one of Nigeria’s most diverse and populous states, raising alarm about the integrity of the democratic process.
The threats were not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of voter suppression targeting the Igbo community, a significant demographic in Lagos known for its commercial influence.
On February 25, 2023, during the presidential election, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, a prominent Igbo socio-cultural organization, decried what it called “barefaced brutality” against Igbos at polling stations.
Eyewitness accounts and reports detailed hooligans disrupting voting in Igbo-dominated neighborhoods, intimidating voters and destroying ballots to tilt the outcome in favor of Tinubu, a powerful political figure who has long wielded influence over Lagos politics.
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The 2023 election marked a sharp departure from Tinubu’s earlier approach to Igbo voters. In 2019, he had publicly courted their support, urging them to align with the APC for mutual prosperity. However, four years later, coercion replaced persuasion as armed thugs took to the streets, enforcing a vote-or-else mandate.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo appealed to security agencies and the federal government to intervene, warning that unchecked ethnic profiling and violence threatened national unity.
As the dust settled, Tinubu emerged in the presidential race, but the scars of the election lingered, with many questioning whether Nigeria’s democracy could withstand such brazen assaults on voter rights.
The episode in Lagos remains a grim reminder of the challenges facing the country’s electoral system as ethnic tensions continue to simmer.
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