• Fingers govs, top officials, says it may breed intimidation
•Urges Peace C’ttee to convene parties, INEC, others’ meeting
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Former President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday raised concerns over the growing practice of serving governors, senior political office holders and party leaders converging on states holding off-cycle elections with large entourages and heavy security details, warning that the trend could undermine democratic stability.
Jonathan, in a statement on the recent Osun State governorship election, said developments surrounding the election, as well as similar practices witnessed during recent governorship elections in Osun, Ekiti and Ondo States, required urgent national attention.
According to him, the increasing deployment of political power and large-scale mobilisation by senior office holders on election day could create an atmosphere of apprehension, intimidation, bullying and undue pressure.
“The growing practice whereby serving governors, senior political office holders, party leaders and other influential government functionaries, accompanied by large numbers of aides and heavy security details from outside a state, converge on states where elections are being conducted raises an issue that demands national attention,” he said.
While commending the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, political parties and the people of the state for the peaceful conduct of the poll, the former President stressed that the conduct witnessed around the recent elections in the three states were, in his view, unusual. “It is not a practice that should become normal in a democratic society,” he argued.
Jonathan recalled that similar situations arose during the 2013 Anambra and 2014 Ekiti governorship elections while he was President, saying he ordered party leaders and senior government officials to leave the states after he was 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,” he warned.
The ex-Nigerian leader acknowledged the right of political parties to campaign, mobilise supporters and deploy legitimate party structures, but said political mobilisation could cross a line when it involved the overwhelming presence of serving governors, senior public officials and powerful political actors from across the country.
He questioned whether such conduct was consistent with free, fair and peaceful democratic competition.
“We must ask ourselves whether the increasing deployment of political power and large-scale mobilisation by senior office holders on election day in states holding elections is consistent with the spirit of free, fair and peaceful democratic competition,” Jonathan said. “This hardly happens in other democratic countries,” he added.
He warned against turning political contests into battles in which victory was perceived as something that must be achieved “at all costs”, saying the practice could create a dangerous precedent if rival political parties began deploying governors and other influential figures to every state holding an election.
“If the current trend becomes established, what happens when governors from opposing political parties begin to descend on every state holding a competitive election?
“What happens when each party seeks to match political power with political power, governmental influence with governmental influence, and mobilisation with counter-mobilisation?” he asked.
Jonathan argued that such a scenario would deepen political tensions rather than strengthen democracy, potentially making elections resemble “battles for political survival rather than peaceful contests for the mandate of the people”.
He therefore urged stakeholders to look beyond partisan disagreements over the Osun election and treat the issue as a national conversation about the future of Nigeria’s electoral democracy.
“I therefore believe that this matter should not be treated as a partisan dispute concerning the Osun election. It is a broader national issue concerning the future of our electoral democracy,” he said.
Jonathan also reminded former and serving public officials that the influence attached to public office came with greater responsibility.
“Those of us who have occupied public office must recognise that our conduct carries a greater responsibility. The power and influence attached to public office should be used to strengthen democratic institutions, not to create apprehension among political opponents or citizens,” he said.
To address the issue, the former President called on the National Peace Committee to convene an urgent stakeholders’ engagement to examine emerging practices around off-cycle elections and establish standards for political conduct.
He proposed that the meeting should include the leadership of registered political parties, INEC, relevant security agencies, the National Assembly, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), civil society organisations and the media.
Jonathan said the national peace committee was particularly suited to lead the process because of the confidence and moral authority it had built in bringing political leaders together during periods of national tension.
“An early national conversation can help us establish appropriate boundaries and expectations for political conduct before practices that are unusual today become accepted as normal tomorrow,” he said.