Lagos Hosts Big Conversation on 2027 Elections, Nigeria’s Growing Security Crisis

Lagos Hosts Big Conversation on 2027 Elections, Nigeria’s Growing Security Crisis

Lagos will next month play host to a high-level dialogue on the state of the nation as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, former Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed, and former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel headline the 7th Annual Lecture of Freedom Online.

Scheduled for September 3, the lecture will bring together political leaders, media executives, policymakers and civil society actors to interrogate Nigeria’s economic difficulties and the worsening insecurity that has come to define election periods in the country’s democracy.

Sanwo-Olu is expected to deliver the keynote address, with Mohammed chairing the proceedings while Daniel will attend as Special Guest of Honour. The President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and Editor of Vanguard, Eze Anaba, will serve as Chief Host.

According to the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of Freedom Online, Gabriel Akinadewo, the decision to place insecurity at the centre of this year’s discourse reflects the growing threat it poses to governance, development and the credibility of elections. He described insecurity as a monster threatening to consume the Nigerian state, and warned that political thuggery and other forms of election violence were already deepening poverty and underdevelopment.

Akinadewo said the forum would raise fundamental questions about the country’s trajectory after the 2027 general elections, including whether the polls could be conducted in a manner acceptable to all stakeholders and whether their outcome would provide a solid foundation for national stability. He noted that the actions of politicians, security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission before, during and after the elections would have far-reaching consequences for more than 200 million Nigerians, and would also shape international perceptions of the country.

“Our political, economic and social fabric is under strain. This lecture is about confronting that time bomb before it explodes,” Akinadewo stated, adding that the gathering was conceived as a platform to proffer solutions to the challenges threatening Nigeria’s democratic project as the 2027 elections draw near.

The 7th Annual Freedom Online Lecture will focus on Nigeria’s economic challenges, insecurity and the road to 2027.