Former President Goodluck Jonathan has called for a national conversation on the growing practice of serving governors, senior political office holders and other influential political actors travelling to states to participate in off-cycle elections.
Jonathan made the call while reacting to the recently concluded Osun State governorship election, which he said demonstrated that Nigeria still had the capacity to conduct elections capable of strengthening public confidence in democratic institutions.
He commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, political parties and, particularly, the people of Osun State for the peaceful conduct of the election.
However, the former president expressed concern over what he described as an emerging and “unwholesome” trend in the conduct of political actors during off-cycle elections.
According to him, the increasing presence of serving governors, senior public officials, party leaders and their aides, often accompanied by heavy security details from outside the state where an election is being held, could create an atmosphere of apprehension, intimidation and undue pressure.
Jonathan said similar situations occurred during the 2013 Anambra and 2014 Ekiti governorship elections when he was president.
He recalled that, after being briefed about the development, he ordered party leaders and senior government officials to immediately leave the affected states.
“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,” he said.
The former president acknowledged that political parties had the right to campaign, mobilise supporters and deploy their legitimate structures, but warned that political mobilisation could become problematic when it involved the overwhelming presence of serving governors and powerful political actors on election day.
He questioned whether the increasing deployment of political power and large-scale mobilisation by senior office holders was consistent with the principles of free, fair and peaceful democratic competition.
Jonathan warned that allowing the trend to continue could lead to a situation where governors from opposing parties begin to deploy political and governmental influence against one another in every state holding a competitive election.
“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.
The former president stressed that the issue should not be treated as a partisan dispute over the Osun election, but as a broader national concern about the future of Nigeria’s electoral democracy.
He urged former and serving public officials to recognise the responsibility attached to their positions, saying political power should be used to strengthen democratic institutions rather than create apprehension among political opponents and citizens.
Jonathan therefore called on the National Peace Committee to convene a stakeholders’ meeting as soon as practicable to examine emerging practices around elections and develop standards for political conduct.
He said the proposed engagement should include the leadership of registered political parties, INEC, security agencies, the National Assembly, the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, civil society organisations and the media.
Jonathan said the National Peace Committee was well positioned to lead the initiative because of the confidence and moral authority it had built over the years in bringing political leaders together during periods of national tension.
He said an early national dialogue would help establish appropriate boundaries for political conduct before practices that are currently considered unusual become accepted as normal.
The statement was signed by Jonathan, who served as President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015 and is the founder and chairman of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation.
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