Nigeria, UNDP, ECOWAS unveil regional effort to protect democracy
Nigeria, UNDP, ECOWAS unveil regional effort to protect democracy
Nigeria on Monday launched a new Regional Partnership for Democracy in Abuja, with support from the United Nations Development Programme and the Economic Community of West African States.
The event also featured warnings about the ongoing democratic decline across West Africa.
The partnership, announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, brought together regional institutions and international partners to address what he described as the “sobering and deeply complex challenges” confronting democratic governance on the continent.
Speaking to diplomats and UN officials at the signing ceremony of the RPD, Tuggar said the new framework marked “the opening of a new chapter in Africa’s democratic journey.”
He thanked the UN office in Nigeria “for its strong partnership, its technical guidance and its abiding confidence in Nigeria’s leadership.”
Tuggar warned that despite existing continental mechanisms, democratic systems remain strained by “the conduct of credible elections, the persistence of political violence, the limited participation of citizens in decision-making processes, the growing phenomenon of administrative impunity among political office holders and in some instances, the weakening of judicial and media institutions.”
He said these trends often lead to “unconstitutional changes of government or protracted political instability; conditions which, in turn, fuel insecurity and violence.”
He argued that part of the problem lies in the “uncritical transplantation of governance models and values that do not adequately reflect our cultural contexts, our social norms, or our historical experiences,” a mismatch he said results in “democratic stagnation, institutional fragility, or, indeed, flagrant abuses of power.”
Tuggar described the RPD as an African-grounded alternative, saying it is built on the belief that “democracy flourishes most sustainably when it is rooted in African values and attuned to local peculiarities, whilst drawing judiciously from global best practices.”
He called the framework “more than a policy instrument; it is President Bola Tinubu’s contribution and indeed, Nigeria’s gift to the strengthening and flourishing of democracy in Africa.”
Under the arrangement, the RPD secretariat will sit in Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with technical operations at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Abuja to ensure what the minister called “programme neutrality, operational continuity and broad inclusiveness.”
The initiative aims to strengthen electoral bodies, establish early-warning systems for unconstitutional transitions, enhance youth engagement, counter disinformation and promote long-term political stability.
Although Nigeria initiated the partnership with the UN office in Abuja, Tuggar stressed that the RPD is open to co-ownership by all.
He also warned about the spread of misinformation, referencing the global “post-truth era” and arguing that “even the media helps sustain an echo chamber of ignorance.” He said the RPD “can help in tackling the Gordian Knot of misinformation and disinformation in our region.”
The UNDP described the initiative as a sign of African-led democratic renewal. Its Resident Representative, Elsie Attafuah, praised Nigeria for spearheading the effort, calling the partnership “a compact of values.”
“It is African-led, regionally anchored and globally significant, grounded in our belief that the answers to Africa’s deepest challenges lie within Africa itself,” she said.
Attafuah outlined four pillars of the programme: strengthening institutions and public accountability; ensuring inclusive participation, especially for women, youth, and persons with disabilities; promoting credible elections; and fostering regional cooperation.
She said the initiative draws on the region’s democratic milestones and aims to “scale what is working, deepen institutional reforms, and accelerate a continental pathway where democracy becomes not only an aspiration, but a lived reality.”
She committed the UNDP to supporting implementation across the region, adding that “the regional partnership for democracy will be implemented not from Abuja alone, but across West African capitals, institutions, and communities.”
Representing the ECOWAS Commission President, the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, said democracy in West Africa is facing severe strain.
He said the launch comes “It is being launched at a time when the social contract between the state and the citizenry is unravelling at the seams because of democracy as practiced in Africa and in our sub-region is notoriously thin on delivering on dividends, basic infrastructure and social safety net for the vulnerable, not to talk about safety and security.”
Musah pointed to “an upsurge of attempted and successful military coups” and the “unconstitutional maintenance of power by incumbents.”
He added that courts in some countries have aided “political exclusion,” where “key political parties and candidates are excluded from ongoing elections through judicial processes, thereby depriving elections of their competitiveness and denying the electorate real choices at the ballot box.”
He said the region’s challenges are compounded by global tensions and “fake news and manipulation through the explosion of AI-empowered social media,” as well as terrorism and violent extremism.
Despite this, Musah insisted that “regime security cannot be a substitute for democracy and development, as hard security without development will eventually come crashing as an edifice built on sandy foundations.”
He praised Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Cabo Verde for holding firm to multiparty governance, adding, “Make no mistake, if democracy falters in Nigeria, democracy will collapse elsewhere, everywhere else in the entire West African region.”
Musah urged the UNDP to pay special attention to priority areas of intervention, which include nature of political parties in the region; the debate about the current liberal democracy among others.
Over the past decade, West Africa has faced mounting democratic setbacks, marked by a resurgence of military coups and prolonged political crises.
Since 2020, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Niger have each undergone military coups that removed their elected governments. In response, ECOWAS imposed sanctions, suspended these states from its institutions, and pursued diplomatic efforts aimed at restoring constitutional rule and negotiating transition timelines.
These disruptions have occurred alongside concerns about electoral credibility, term-limit manipulation and shrinking civic space, contributing to what regional observers describe as the most severe democratic recession in West Africa since the early 1990s.
At the same time, West Africa has become a major theatre for violent extremism and armed insurgencies, particularly in the Sahel, where groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and ISIS have expanded their reach.
