Jonathan, Discloses Problem of Democracy In Nigeria; This is What He Said

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed one of the problems of democracy in Nigeria as he shows concerns over recent court judgments on political cases.....Read Full Article>>

According to him, the direction the judiciary is threatening the stability of the country’ s democracy. Jonathan, speaking at the 67th birthday celebration of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, in Abuja, described some of the rulings on election matters as akin to ” a cone being turned upside down. ” He expressed his disappointment with Nigeria’ s judicial system, describing the situation as a cone that is being turned upside down.

” 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, ” he said ” And if a cone is turned upside down it cannot be stable, and at the slightest perturbation, it will fall, ” he added.

He pointed out that comments from legal experts such as Olisa Agbakoba on Supreme Court decisions had left him deeply saddened.

” 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, ” he said.

Jonathan emphasized that for democracy to endure in Nigeria, the judiciary must remain free of political influence.

” 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 stabilize the political process, ” he stated.

Speaking further, the former President recalled a particular judgment that he said has been troubling him.
He said: ” It simply turned the cone upside down, and if the courts don’ t look back into this case, it will create so much instability in the political system that it would affect all of us. “