Earlier today in Washington DC delivered a Keynote Speech on “Reclaiming Democratic Integrity in the Age of Executive Overreach” at the 2025 Global Democracy Conference of @NotreDame University’s @KeoughGlobalND and @KelloggInst . The theme of this year’s conference is “Protecting Democracy from Executive Overreach” Being among friends, refreshed memories of the wonderful time that Pastor Chinedu and I spent in Indiana with the great folks of the University back in 2022 when I was awarded their prestigious Ford Family Notre Dame Award for International Development and Solidarity and then delivered the Keynote for their Dignity and Development Forum. I started off by contrasting Democracy as a Principle and Democracy as a Practice. “Executive Overreach is a disconcerting situation when contrary to the principles of separation of power and checks and balances, the executive branch exceeds its constitutional limits and encroaches on the independence of the legislative and judicial branches, thereby weakening democratic processes. “Such state of affairs precipitates Democratic Regression as a society begins a downward spiral and sharp decline of democratic institutions and practices, leading to more autocratic governance and reaches a stage where democratic integrity is entirely lost”. “Democratic Integrity refers to the principles and practices that ensure a democracy functions fairly, transparently, and in accordance with its foundational values. Democratic values are known as the cornerstones against which the practice of democracy is evaluated.“ Who can checkmate those who assault democratic integrity? You got that right, principally You and your fellow citizens because those who benefit from assaulting Democracy have no incentive to stop nor fix the distortion and neither do those institutions like the no-longer-independent INEC and the Judiciary that should have contained and restrained their excesses. You, not someone else as a Citizen own Democracy and must defend it at all times. ✍🏾✍🏾✍🏾