Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has said Nigeria cannot effectively lead regional efforts to curb military coups in West Africa without first addressing internal factors that drive instability within the country.
Falana made the statement amid renewed incidents of military takeovers in the sub-region. He spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, where he stressed the need for Nigeria to confront the socioeconomic and political conditions that fuel unrest.
According to him, political stability can only be achieved if Nigeria tackles key challenges such as economic hardship, poverty, illiteracy and insecurity.
“If we want to have political stability in Nigeria, you must address the crisis of the economy, address poverty, tackle illiteracy, and curb insecurity of lives and property,” he said.
Falana also called for the protection of civic freedoms, warning against the criminalisation of dissent and criticism. He said the political space in the country must not continue to shrink.
“You must show that the political space will not shrink as it is now. There must be freedom of expression. You cannot be charging people with all manner of offences for expressing their views about the affairs of their country,” he said.
He further urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to widen political participation by allowing the registration of ideological political parties to challenge existing power structures.
“INEC must open the political space and allow ideological political parties to be registered to challenge the status quo. Right now, INEC is not prepared to open the political space,” Falana said.
The human rights lawyer noted that many Nigerians were dissatisfied with current policies and argued that democratic leaders across Africa often weaken opposition forces, thereby undermining pluralism.
According to him, Nigeria must avoid practices that promote a one-party system if it intends to champion democracy in the region.
“Nigeria clearly has its job cut out. If you want to stop coups, you must allow political pluralism in Nigeria. You cannot have a situation where the country is moving towards a one-party state, and you want to export democracy,” he said.
Falana added that credible elections depend on strong and competitive opposition, noting that ruling parties across Africa frequently render their rivals ineffective through direct or indirect restrictions.
When asked whether more coups should be expected in the region, Falana said instability would persist if opposition leaders were imprisoned, forced into exile or killed.
“It won’t be the last. Once you put opposition leaders in jail, send them into exile, or kill them, you cannot have political stability,” he said.
Citing recent developments in Benin Republic, Falana urged Nigeria to demonstrate leadership in stabilising the West African region.
His comments followed a failed coup attempt in Benin Republic on Sunday, when soldiers led by Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri seized the state television station in Cotonou and announced the removal of President Patrice Talon.
The uprising was suppressed within hours by Nigerian troops and the ECOWAS standby force. Authorities reported that several people were killed, at least 14 suspects were arrested, and Tigri remains at large. The plotters reportedly cited grievances related to security concerns, military promotions and restrictions on political freedoms ahead of the 2026 election.
The attempted coup was condemned by the African Union, United Nations, European Union and the Economic Community of West African States.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to deploy troops to Benin Republic.