{"id":547,"date":"2026-08-13T14:02:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T14:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/?p=547"},"modified":"2026-08-13T16:55:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T16:55:26","slug":"jonathan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/?p=547","title":{"rendered":"Anyim urges leaders to emulate Jonathan\u2019s democratic example"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Emmanuel Oloniruha<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bauchi<\/p>\n

Former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, has urged Nigerian political leaders to prioritise national interest and emulate former President Goodluck Jonathan\u2019s commitment to democracy.<\/p>\n

Anyim made the call on Tuesday in Bauchi in his remarks at the 2026 Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF) Democracy Dialogue.<\/p>\n

It was themed: \u201cBeyond Elections: Can Political Parties and the Judiciary Save African Democracy?\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that while discussions on democratic stability often focused on the judiciary, the quality, character and disposition of politicians remained fundamental to democratic outcomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am conscious of the fact that the focal point is the judiciary.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think there is a fundamental factor that is not being discussed here, which I believe is necessary to bring to the fore.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe search for solutions should also bring into consideration the quality and character of our politicians, and on the other hand, national interest,\u201d Anyim said.<\/p>\n

Referring to the 2015 general election, Anyim said Jonathan\u2019s decision not to challenge the result in court helped to prevent political instability.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake, for instance, in 2015, when we lost the election, it would have been the first time in the history of this country where a sitting president would contest the outcome of an election in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut President Jonathan chose not to go to court. He chose not to contest the outcome of the election.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat saved both the court and the political parties, and indeed stabilised the polity,\u201d Anyim said.<\/p>\n

He said lasting solutions to Nigeria\u2019s political challenges required politicians with the character, patriotism and disposition demonstrated by Jonathan.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us to get a permanent solution, we need the character, the spirit, and the disposition displayed in the mould of President Goodluck Jonathan to run our affairs,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Dr Yusuf Dantalle, alleged that political actors were weakening political parties and undermining internal party democracy.<\/p>\n

Dantalle said political parties in Nigeria had lost much of their independence, unlike in previous eras when party structures wielded authority over elected officials and maintained ideological discipline.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we were younger, political parties as institutions were much stronger.<\/p>\n

\u201cParty leadership did not belong to elected officials; the party was a structure with its own independence. When people were elected, political parties ensured that officials aligned with the party manifesto,\u201d Dantalle said.<\/p>\n

He alleged that the withdrawal of state subventions had financially weakened political parties, leaving them vulnerable to control by wealthy individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cParties were left at the mercy of whoever could pay or drive political activities financially, allowing them to dictate what happens within the parties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dantalle also accused external actors of creating factions within political parties and using compromised court processes to deepen crises in opposition parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the factions in political parties today are manufactured; it is not by accident,\u201d Dantalle said, adding that conflicting court judgments also undermined internal democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere you have a strong contender, the next thing you see is someone from nowhere, who is not even a member, claiming leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuspended or expelled members are backed because the judiciary has been weaponised.\u201d<\/p>\n

He urged political leaders to remember that power was temporary and called on stakeholders to restore the structural integrity of Nigeria\u2019s multi-party system. (NAN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, has urged Nigerian political leaders to prioritise national interest and emulate former President Goodluck Jonathan\u2019s commitment to democracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[56,386,408],"class_list":["post-547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-democracy","tag-democracydialogue","tag-gjfdemocracydialogue"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786628132317.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":548,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions\/548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}