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Former President Goodluck Jonathan has raised concerns about Nigeria’s democracy and its judiciary system.
The former president likened judgements on some election matters to a “cone being turned upside down.”
Jonathan said this at the 67th birthday celebration of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, in Abuja on Thursday, October 17, 2024.
He said, “The way things are going in this country, especially listening to the judgments being given regarding political cases, we are beginning to see that democracy in Nigeria is like a cone that is being turned upside down.
“And if a cone is turned upside down it cannot be stable and at the slightest perturbation, it will fall. When I listened to some senior lawyers like Olisa Agbakoba making comments on some Supreme Court’s judgments, I felt very sad that the country has got to that level.”
Jonathan suggests solution
For democracy to flourish in Nigeria, the ex-president cautioned the Bar and the Bench not to be influenced by politicians.
“If our democracy will endure, people, both at the Bar and the Bench, should not be carried away by political influence. That is the only way we can stabilise the political process.
“I know the lawyers enjoy it because after elections there is always an avalanche of litigations, because it is like Christmas for lawyers.
“But in most other countries, people don’t go to court, but in Nigeria, pre-election matters and post-election matters fill all the courts and it does not give a good sign for democracy,” he said.
He said a particular court verdict has been haunting him since it was delivered because the judgement turned the cone upside down.
He added that if the courts failed to review the case, it could create instability in Nigeria’s political system.