This paper reflects on the inadequacy of democratic principles in the effort to resolve the Niger Delta question in Nigeria. Beyond the ethnic, regional and general sectional basis of the desire for restructuring generally in Nigeria, the theory of federal democracy provides a foundation for understanding and addressing those agitations. We focus on the agitations in the oil rich Niger Delta that is core to the agitations for restructuring of the Nigerian federation. The issue is that beyond a democratic constitution, there are aspects of the democratic principle that find relevance within the framework of federalism that are lacking in the administration of Nigeria’s federating states, the Niger Delta region inclusive. This creates the problem of sectional uprising, the Niger Delta one in this case.

Keywords: Democracy Federalism Niger-Delta Nigeria