05/02/2026
PRESS RELEASE
5th February 2026
*MURIC AGEGE BRANCH ADVOCATES PROLETARIAT DEMOCRACY OVER BOURGEOIS ELECTORALISM AHEAD OF THE COMING GENERAL ELECTION*
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Agege Branch, a faith-based human rights and civil society organization committed to social justice, equity, and the protection of marginalized populations, hereby calls the attention of Nigerians—particularly residents of Agege, Lagos State, and the wider Nigerian polity—to the urgent necessity of transitioning from an elite-dominated bourgeois democracy to a genuinely participatory and proletariat-oriented democratic order as the nation approaches another electoral cycle.
Democracy, in classical political theory, derives its legitimacy from popular sovereignty, mass participation, and the social contract between the state and the governed. However, what currently operates within Nigeria’s political system largely approximates a bourgeois democratic framework—characterized by elite capture of state power, plutocratic influence, prebendal politics, clientelism, and rent-seeking behavior. In this arrangement, political competition is heavily skewed in favor of entrenched economic elites, political godfathers, and hegemonic interest groups, thereby hollowing out democratic substance while retaining procedural form.
This model of democracy commodifies elections, transforms public office into private investment, and subordinates public interest to class privilege. The result is a distorted political economy in which the proletariat—comprising workers, artisans, traders, farmers, youths, and the urban poor—are systematically excluded from meaningful decision-making, reduced to voting instruments during electoral mobilization, and alienated from governance outcomes thereafter. Such a system erodes political accountability, weakens state-society relations, and undermines democratic legitimacy.
MURIC Agege Branch therefore advances the imperative of proletariat democracy—a people-centered, redistributive, and inclusive democratic culture anchored on substantive participation rather than mere electoral ritualism.
A proletariat democratic order prioritizes:
Social welfare, human dignity, and distributive justice
Universal access to education, healthcare, housing, and basic public goods
Fair wages, employment generation, and economic inclusion
Transparency, institutional accountability, and responsive governance
Equal political opportunity irrespective of class, wealth, or socio-economic status
From a normative, moral, and religious standpoint, Islam unequivocally rejects structural oppression, class exploitation, and governance systems that institutionalize inequality.
Core Islamic principles such as justice (`adl), consultative governance (shūrā), trust and stewardship (amānah), and public accountability resonate strongly with the ideals of participatory democracy and people-oriented governance. Any political order that perpetuates socio-economic stratification, entrenches elite hegemony, and widens class disparities stands in contradiction to divine justice, human rights norms, and ethical governance.
In light of the foregoing, MURIC Agege Branch calls on:
Political parties to de-emphasize monetized candidacy, reject plutocratic gate-keeping, and field candidates with ideological clarity, grassroots consciousness, and demonstrable public service ethics.
Voters to resist vote-buying, political patronage, and inducement politics, and to exercise electoral choice based on policy alternatives, competence, and class consciousness.
Electoral management bodies to strengthen institutional autonomy, enforce campaign finance regulations, and guarantee a level playing field that reflects the genuine will of the electorate.
Civil society organizations and religious institutions to intensify civic education, political socialization, and voter enlightenment geared toward democratic values, social justice, and accountable leadership.
As the forthcoming election approaches, Nigerians must transcend a politics of “stomach infrastructure,” clientelism, and transactional voting, and embrace a democracy of conscience, equity, and shared prosperity. Sustainable peace, social stability, and national development can only emerge from a democratic system rooted in popular participation, class equity, and inclusive governance.
MURIC Agege Branch remains steadfast in its commitment to peaceful advocacy, civic engagement, and the promotion of justice for all—regardless of faith, class, ethnicity, or socio-economic background.
Signed:
MURIC Agege Branch
Lagos State
For Justice, Equity, and the Oppressed
