…Former vice-president cites widening trust deficit, warns elected leaders against undermining constitutional rule
ACCRA, Ghana — Former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has warned that growing public dissatisfaction with democratic governance is threatening constitutional rule across Africa, revealing that 53 per cent of surveyed citizens would tolerate military intervention if elected leaders abused power for personal interests.
Osinbajo said the findings exposed a widening gap between Africans’ preference for democracy and their satisfaction with how elected governments were running their countries, warning that persistent governance failures could further erode confidence in democratic institutions.
He spoke on October 22 while delivering the keynote address at the annual lecture of Good Governance Africa (GGA) in Accra, Ghana, themed “Democracy Under Pressure: Rebuilding Trust, Accountability, and Institutional Integrity in Africa’s New Political Era,” reports The Guardian.
Citing Afrobarometer’s 2024 flagship report, based on surveys conducted across 39 African countries between 2021 and 2023, the former vice-president said 66 per cent of respondents preferred democracy to other forms of government, but only 37 per cent were satisfied with its performance in their respective countries.
The contrast, he argued, highlighted the danger of governments failing to translate democratic ideals into meaningful improvements in citizens’ lives.
“Democracy in Africa is clearly under pressure,” Osinbajo said, identifying military takeovers and declining public confidence in governments and institutions responsible for protecting citizens’ rights as major threats.
According to him, Africa recorded 11 successful coups in nine countries between 2020 and 2025.
Although the circumstances surrounding the military interventions varied, he said their cumulative effect was to undermine the principle that political power should be acquired and exercised through constitutional processes.
Osinbajo, however, cautioned against viewing Africa’s democratic challenges solely through the lens of military takeovers, arguing that elected leaders could also weaken constitutional government by manipulating political rules and restricting opportunities for genuine political change.
He stressed that dissatisfaction with elected governments should not automatically be interpreted as a rejection of democracy.
To support his argument, he cited a 2023 United Nations Development Programme survey of 8,000 African citizens, which found that only 11 per cent of respondents in countries that had experienced unconstitutional changes of government preferred non-democratic forms of government.
For Osinbajo, the findings underscored the need for governments to address the failures fuelling public frustration while strengthening institutions that protect citizens’ rights and hold political officeholders accountable.
Accountability gap threatens public confidence
The lecture also examined how institutional integrity, accountability and the quality of public administration affect Africa’s development prospects.
Robert Rose, founder and outgoing global chairman of GGA, said the organisation was established more than a decade ago to promote independent research, policy analysis and engagement with policymakers, civil society, businesses, communities and the media.
He said Africa’s development could not be separated from the quality of governance, identifying the gap between the existence of laws and oversight institutions and their effective enforcement as a persistent challenge.
Rose argued that corruption must attract consequences and that public resources must be deployed for their intended purposes if governments are to earn citizens’ confidence.
He also highlighted GGA’s involvement in the campaign for an International Anti-Corruption Court, a proposed international mechanism designed to address grand corruption in cases where national authorities are unable or unwilling to prosecute perpetrators.
According to him, the proposed court would complement rather than replace national justice systems, providing an additional avenue for accountability when domestic institutions fail to act.
Rose estimated that corruption costs the world $2.6 trillion annually, stressing the implications of the losses for public finances, investment and development.
He also linked effective governance to economic growth, noting that businesses needed predictable regulations, enforceable contracts and institutions capable of ensuring fairness.
‘Trust cannot be demanded’
In his closing remarks, GGA’s Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deji Haastrup, said rebuilding public confidence required institutions to demonstrate integrity through their actions rather than rely on their formal existence.
“Trust cannot be demanded. It must be earned,” Haastrup said.
He explained that public confidence grew when citizens could see government resources being used for the public good, institutions responding to their needs, corruption attracting appropriate consequences and courts operating independently.
He also identified effective legislative oversight, press freedom, an enabling environment for civil society and the equal application of the law as essential components of accountable governance.
“The great governance challenges facing Africa does not include a lack of thoughtfully crafted constitutions. We do have laws. We have anti-corruption agencies. We have law courts, parliaments, auditors-general and other oversight institutions. Yet, there often remains a gap between the promise of accountability and the experience of it,” he said.
Haastrup maintained that governance should be measured by its practical impact on people’s lives, including access to functional schools and healthcare, opportunities for young people to build their futures in their home countries, and an environment where entrepreneurs could establish businesses without relying on political connections.
He said the position reflected GGA’s longstanding conviction that governance was fundamentally a development issue.
The organisation, he added, would continue to focus on democratic governance, anti-corruption, peace and security, natural resource governance, economic development, data and analytics, and youth empowerment through research, evidence-based advocacy and partnerships.
GGA seeks sustained funding for governance initiatives
Haastrup also appealed to foundations, businesses, development institutions and individuals to provide sustained financial support for the organisation’s work.
He said GGA needed partners prepared to invest not only in individual projects but also in the institutional capacity required to maintain its research, continental networks and response to emerging governance challenges.
“The work we have discussed today … none of these can be sustained by conviction alone,” he said.
He called for stronger collaboration among governments, parliaments, the judiciary, businesses, civil society, the media, academia, development partners and young people, arguing that democratic renewal required shared responsibility across society.
Rose, meanwhile, stressed the importance of building institutions capable of surviving beyond their founders.
He outlined a long-term vision for GGA to expand its continental presence through the establishment of nine regional centres over the next 10 to 15 years, while acknowledging that the ambition would require sustained funding, partnerships and leadership.
