Former President Goodluck Jonathan has raised a red flag over the “unwholesome” trend of high-ranking political officials and governors storming states during off-cycle elections.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the former President warned that the growing practice of senior government functionaries and party leaders converging on states holding elections, accompanied by heavy security details, poses a threat to Nigeria’s democracy.
“The conduct witnessed around the recent elections in Osun, Ekiti and Ondo States was, in my view, unusual. It is not a practice that should become normal in a democratic society,” Jonathan stated.
Drawing from his own experience in office, he noted that he previously intervened during the 2013 and 2014 governorship elections in Anambra and Ekiti, respectively, by ordering party leaders and senior government officials to leave the states immediately.
Jonathan emphasized that while political parties have a right to campaign and mobilize, there is a dangerous threshold where their presence creates an atmosphere of “apprehension, intimidation, bullying and undue pressure.” He warned that if this trend continues, it could turn elections into “battles for political survival rather than peaceful contests for the mandate of the people.”
“We must not allow political competition to become a contest in which victory is perceived as something that must be achieved at all costs,” he added.
To address this, the former President called on the National Peace Committee to convene an urgent stakeholders’ engagement. He urged the committee to bring together political leaders, INEC, security agencies, the National Assembly, the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, civil society, and the media to “establish appropriate boundaries and expectations for political conduct.”
“Those of us who have occupied public office must recognise that our conduct carries a greater responsibility,” Jonathan concluded. “The power and influence attached to public office should be used to strengthen democratic institutions, not to create apprehension among political opponents or citizens.”
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