Over the past year, Netflix started to take the Nigerian market more seriously and has increased its investment in Nigeria’s film industry, Nollywood. The dominant streaming company announced its presence via its newly created Twitter handle, NetflixNaija, while also detailing plans to commission original content by partnering with local creatives and investing in the space.

Movie like Lionheart-2018 saw the company stream its first Nollywood movie, also The Setup started showing on Netflix on April 22nd, 2020. On October 18th, 2019, UpNorth started showing on Netflix to mention few.

Here comes another Nigerian movie that explores the dynamics of politics in Nigeria today, The ‘4th Republic’, a Nollywood political thriller, that will debut on Netflix on Saturday.

The film stars Kate Henshaw, Bimbo Manuel, Sani Mu’azu, Linda Ejiofor, Yakubu Mohammed, and Enyinna Nwigwe.

The movie follows the story of a governorship aspirant, Mabel King (Kate Henshaw), in the aftermath of a violent and fraudulent election that results in the death of her campaign manager Sikiru (Jide Attah).

As the search for the killers unravels, Mabel goes on to challenge the decision that declares incumbent governor Idris Sani (Sani Mu’azu) as the winner of the election.

Both the election petition tribunal and murder investigation intersect to explosive results.

Speaking about the upcoming release of the film, the director Ishaya Bako said, ‘We’re excited to share this film with the world. We’ve had some very interesting feedback from the screenings of the film at the cinemas, and especially at the campus tour, we carried out at the end of 2019.

“This year has been a particularly tough one for everyone, for obvious reasons, one thing that hasn’t changed is that people are able to watch good entertainment from the comfort and safety of their homes”.

‘4th Republic’ is a gripping thriller that is reflective of the Nigerian system, from our do or die politics to our ironic optimists.

The producers say the film is one of the most important Nigerian films to watch.

The release of the film is slated a day after June 12 – Nigeria’s Democracy Day, one of the most significant days in the country’s post-independence political history.

Still viewed as the freest, fairest and most peaceful election ever held in Nigeria, June 12, 1993, marked the beginning of the decades-long struggle to sustain democratic rule in Nigeria.

‘4th Republic’ is written by Emil B. Garuba and Zainab Omaki.

The film is co-produced by Griot Studios Ltd. and Amateur Heads Productions with Bem Pever, Ishaya Bako, Kemi ‘Lala’ Akindoju, with Ummi A. Yakubu serving as producers.

The film was funded by grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

‘4th Republic’ was shot on location in Abuja, Lokoja, and Lagos.

The film was screened in seven Nigerian universities in 2019 in collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Enough is Enough (EiE Nigeria).

It was also endorsed by the National Orientation Agency (NOA).