Former President Goodluck Jonathan has charged political parties and the judiciary across Africa to strengthen democratic institutions and protect the will of the people, warning that democracy could become a mere façade if its foundational principles are weakened.
Jonathan, Chairman of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF), gave the charge on Tuesday at the closing of the 2026 GJF Democracy Dialogue in Bauchi, with the theme, “Beyond Elections: Can Political Parties and the Judiciary Save Africa’s Democracy? He said political parties must become genuine democratic institutions by embracing internal democracy, producing credible leaders, respecting their own rules, and putting national interest above partisan interests. “Strong democracies cannot emerge from weak political parties,” Jonathan said, calling for stronger frameworks across Africa to regulate political parties and enhance democratic integrity.
He cited Kenya’s model of having a dedicated institution to regulate political activities alongside the electoral management body, saying other African countries could adopt similar arrangements to strengthen political accountability. The former president also placed a heavy responsibility on the judiciary, saying it carried “an equally or more profound responsibility” in protecting democracy.
He urged judicial officers handling political cases to be guided by the principles represented by Lady Justice: impartiality, fairness, and the rule of law. The former president expressed concern that in some African countries, electoral contests were increasingly being settled in courtrooms rather than at the ballot box.
While acknowledging the judiciary’s constitutional responsibility to resolve electoral disputes, he said democracy was healthiest when the freely expressed will of the people was clear, respected, and accepted by all. “The courtroom shouldn’t become the arena where political mandates are routinely determined,” he warned. Jonathan said a functional democracy must rest on eight cardinal pillars: sovereignty of the people, rule of law, separation of powers, protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, accountability and transparency, free and credible elections, political pluralism, and an active civil society.
He cautioned that although no country could score perfectly on all the pillars, substantial compliance with most of them was necessary for democracy to remain stable and sustainable. “When several of these foundations of democracy are weakened, what emerges is not a genuine democracy but a pseudo-democracy; one that
retains democratic forms while steadily losing democratic substance,” he said.
Jonathan urged African leaders to consciously build their political parties, legislatures, executives, and judiciaries around these democratic principles. “History will judge our democracies not by the number of elections we conduct, but by the strength of the institutions we build and the fidelity with which we uphold these democratic pillars,” he said. He called on African countries to break the cycle of political instability and electoral crises and to build strong institutions capable of promoting peace, development, and shared prosperity. He thanked the Bauchi State Government and Governor Bala Mohammed for supporting the dialogue, as well as former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and other participants for attending the event.
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