Former President Goodluck Jonathan has raised concerns over the growing practice of serving governors, senior political office holders and influential party leaders converging on states during off-cycle elections, warning that the trend could threaten Nigeria’s democratic stability.
Jonathan, in a statement on the recent Osun State governorship election, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, political parties and, most importantly, the people of Osun State for what he described as the peaceful conduct of the election.
He said the outcome demonstrated that despite the challenges facing Nigeria’s democracy, the country still had the capacity to conduct elections capable of strengthening public confidence in democratic institutions.
However, the former president expressed concern over what he described as an emerging trend in political conduct during off-cycle elections, particularly the movement of serving governors, senior government officials, party leaders and large numbers of aides and security personnel from outside a state into areas where elections are taking place.
Jonathan said similar situations occurred during the 2013 Anambra and 2014 Ekiti governorship elections when he was president.
According to him, he ordered party leaders and senior government officials to leave the states immediately after being briefed about their presence.
“This trend is unwholesome. If left unchecked, it could threaten our fragile democracy and have serious long-term implications for democratic stability,” Jonathan said.
He stressed that political parties had every right to campaign, mobilise supporters and deploy legitimate party structures, describing such activities as an essential part of democracy.
However, he warned that political mobilisation could become problematic when it involved the overwhelming presence of serving governors, senior public officials and powerful political actors on election day.
Jonathan said such deployments could create an atmosphere of “apprehension, intimidation, bullying and undue pressure” among political opponents and citizens.
He questioned whether the increasing deployment of political power and large-scale mobilisation by senior office holders during elections was consistent with the spirit of free, fair and peaceful democratic competition.
“This hardly happens in other democratic countries,” he said.
The former president also warned against turning elections into contests where victory is perceived as something that must be achieved at all costs.
He raised concerns about the precedent such conduct could create, asking what would happen if governors from opposing political parties began descending on every state holding competitive elections.
Jonathan warned that such a scenario could trigger a cycle in which political parties attempt to match governmental influence with governmental influence and mobilisation with counter-mobilisation.
“Such a development would not strengthen our democracy. It would deepen political tensions and could make elections increasingly resemble battles for political survival rather than peaceful contests for the mandate of the people,” he said.
He therefore urged Nigerians not to treat the issue as a partisan dispute linked only to the Osun election, but as a broader national question concerning the future of the country’s electoral democracy.
Jonathan further called on former and serving public office holders to recognise the responsibility that comes with political power and influence.
“Those of us who have occupied public office must recognise that our conduct carries a greater responsibility,” he said, stressing that the influence attached to public office should be deployed to strengthen democratic institutions rather than create apprehension among political opponents or citizens.
