Post-election litigations threat to Nigeria’s democracy – Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan, Tuesday,  expressed concerns over Nigeria’s growing culture of post-election litigations, saying it’s fast becoming a culture.

He said the increasing role of the courts in determining outcomes of elections is weakening the country’s democratic process.

Ex-President Jonathan spoke Tuesday in Bauchi at the 2026 Democracy Dialogue organised by his Foundation.

The former Nigerian leader described Nigeria’s electoral dispute system as anomalous when compared to other African democracies, where elections, most times, are often resolved through the ballot rather than prolonged litigations.

According to him, “The Nigerian situation is extremely different from most other African countries.

“The kind of election litigation we experience here is uncommon. I can describe the Nigerian situation as a very anomalous one.”

He recalled how a former Deputy President of South Africa, during a conversation with him as Vice President, expressed shock at the decisions by Nigerian politicians to challenge election outcomes in court.

The former president said: “She asked me, ‘Jonathan, why would somebody go to court after losing an election?’”

He said: “In South Africa, people do not normally go to court after losing an election. In Nigeria, election litigation has become so common that it is often factored into the election process.”

The former president stressed the need for the nation’s judiciary to remain independent, impartial and faithful to the law, pointing out however that public confidence in many political judgments had declined.

While agreeing that criminal offences committed during elections should be prosecuted, Jonathan said, some electoral disputes had become unnecessarily politicised and over-litigated.

“In some highly controversial cases, it is better for the election to go back to the people,” he said.

He condemned the “increasing judicial interference” in the internal affairs of political parties, particularly in disputes arising from party primaries.

“Courts now determine who becomes a party’s candidate and, in some cases, which political party should be recognised. That is creating serious uncertainty in Nigeria’s political environment,” added the ex-Nigerian leader.

Throwing a challenge to the political parties, he called on them to retain the primary responsibility of choosing their candidates, adding that excessive judicial intervention had altered the balance of Nigeria’s democratic system.

According to him, democracy functions as an ecosystem with political parties, electoral bodies, security agencies, the judiciary, civil society, the media, election observers and voters, having different roles to lay in ensuring its survival.

On the whole, he expressed the hope that Nigeria’s democracy would be stronger if electoral disputes cum litigations were significantly reduced and greater confidence restored in both elections and judicial decisions.