Renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, has vehemently opposed the proposed bill seeking to make voting mandatory for eligible Nigerians, declaring he would rather serve a prison sentence than comply with such legislation.

Speaking on Channels Television's 'Politics Today' program on Monday, Agbakoba criticized the National Assembly's approach to addressing low voter turnout in Nigeria's electoral process.

"If that bill were to pass, I would say, 'Agbakoba, we will not obey it.' I'll plead conscientious objection. I'd rather go to prison for six months than to obey it," the senior lawyer asserted.

Agbakoba questioned the rationale behind the proposed legislation, suggesting that lawmakers should instead focus on understanding the root causes of voter apathy in the country.

"Why would the National Assembly want to impose compulsory voting? Why don't they reverse the question and say, why are Nigerians not interested? What is the apathy about?" he questioned.

According to the rights advocate, the widespread disengagement from the electoral process stems from years of political exclusion and unfulfilled promises by elected officials, rather than a lack of civic responsibility among citizens.

Looking ahead to the 2027 general elections, Agbakoba warned that democracy in Nigeria cannot succeed if it continues to serve only a select elite, identifying political failure as the fundamental reason behind low voter participation.

The controversial bill, which has already scaled second reading in the House of Representatives, is jointly sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and Labour Party lawmaker Daniel Asama Ago. If passed, it would make voting mandatory for all eligible Nigerians in national and state elections.

Critics of the bill argue that enforcing mandatory voting without addressing the underlying issues of political disillusionment and systemic failures could further alienate citizens from the democratic process.