These machines built around patrons and their entourage were no match for the armed forces barracked, trained and equipped to suppress revolts. Civilian election-machines continues to be elitist and averse to mass mobilisation of the citizenry. The armed forces have developed the capacity and perhaps the sagacity of foiling all attempts to restructure them and subordinate them to civilian state power parties. Thus even in the so much vaunted fourth republic, the civilian election-machines recognised by INEC as PDP, APP, and AD are no match against the armed forces in the game of control of the government of Nigeria. Today, if the military were to seize government and to declare martial rule, the PDP, APP and AD who rule in the tradition of the military, cannot mobilize or lead a coalition that can mobilise the masses to defend democracy in Nigeria.
Elections are an alternate access to the power and authority of government.
Military coups have been more efficient means of access. As long as government has the capacity it has to make those in control of it independent of popular support, so long would governance be despotic, authoritarian and a means of class formation. This leads us to the fourth issue, the current discussion on the structure of government and the relationship between arms of government and levels of government. The contestations for power at all levels of government is fuelled by what power can be used for. And as long as the capacity of government as inherited from the colonial era remains the same, neither balance of power between the arms of government or between the levels of government can institute Populist democracy in Nigeria.