Former President Goodluck Jonathan has warned politicians to stick to the rules of politics in their pursuit of victory.
NEWSNGR reports that Jonathan gave the warning at a public lecture held to mark the 80th birthday of former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Kanu Agabi.
He urged politicians to stop rigging elections in the name of politics, arguing that electoral contests must follow established rules.
He added that politicians should not treat the pursuit of victory as justification for misconduct.
“In politics, it’s a disaster. People do stupid things, also even criminal things And they will tell you it is politics. It is not politics. Politics has rules.
“Politics is like a soccer match. You play according to the rules, and that’s why the courts start to mediate if you go against the rules. Otherwise, you can do anything and win an election and walk away,” he said.
The ex-Nigerian leader further said the nation’s fight against corruption requires more than laws and enforcement agencies.
He emphasised that lasting change would depend on building a society that values ethical conduct and rejects wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Senator Nenadi Usman, has stated that Nigeria’s democracy survived in 2015 because of the sacrifice of former president, Goodluck Jonathan
She argued that Jonathan’s decision to concede defeat in the 2015 presidential election before the final results were announced helped avert what she described as dire predictions about the country’s democratic future.
NEWSNGR reports that Usman stated this while speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the 2026 Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Democracy Dialogue in Bauchi on Monday.
She applauded Jonathan’s move, maintaining that the former president demonstrated a principled approach to politics that had rarely been witnessed in the country.
“Nigeria’s democracy survived the doomsday predictions of bookmakers in 2015 because of President Jonathan’s concession of defeat in that year’s election, even before the final votes were tallied,” Usman said.
The LP chairman described the gesture as unprecedented in Nigeria’s political history, saying Jonathan demonstrated a principled approach to politics that had rarely been witnessed in the country.
She noted that Jonathan had consistently maintained from the beginning of his presidency that neither his election nor remaining in office was worth the blood of any Nigerian.
According to her, the former President demonstrated the sincerity of that position when he conceded defeat after the 2015 election.
Usman urged politicians seeking the presidency in 2027 to play by the rules and put the interest of the country above personal political ambitions.
Quoting investor Warren Buffett, she said: “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
She added: “The democracy Nigerians practise today has survived till this day because Jonathan made sacrifices in the past.”
The Labour Party chairman also questioned whether any of the current presidential hopefuls would be willing to make similar sacrifices in the interest of the nation, given what she described as the “enormity of inflammatory rhetoric” emanating from the camps of political parties.
On the Labour Party’s prospects ahead of the next general elections, Usman described the party as the most organised opposition platform in the country.
“The Labour Party is the most structured political party in Nigeria going into the next general elections.
“With the combined strength of the NLC and the TUC, both of which are constitutional members of the party, no Nigerian political party is better positioned to show the APC government the exit door than the Labour Party,” she said.
