Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has issued a blunt warning to President Bola Tinubu, serving governors, and other powerful political actors against what he described as the "invasion" of states with security personnel, aides, and political machinery during elections, cautioning that the growing practice threatens Nigeria's fragile democracy and could turn off-cycle polls into contests of intimidation and raw power. In a personally signed statement titled "Osun and the Need to Set New Boundaries for Political Conduct in Off‑Cycle Elections," released on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, Jonathan said the practice of influential political actors arriving in large numbers with heavy security details from outside a state during elections was "unwholesome" and should not become normalised in Nigeria's electoral system.
The former president's remarks came on the heels of the recently concluded Osun State governorship election, where All Progressives Congress governors and their entourages had stormed Osogbo to support their candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who ultimately lost to Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party. Jonathan noted that similar events had occurred during governorship elections in Ekiti and Ondo states, raising concerns that required urgent national attention. While commending the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, political parties, and the people of Osun for the peaceful conduct of the election, Jonathan said developments surrounding the exercise had highlighted a broader problem.
"The growing practice whereby serving governors, senior political office holders, party leaders and other influential government functionaries, accompanied by large numbers of aides and heavy security details from outside a state, converge on states where elections are being conducted raises an issue that demands national attention," Jonathan said. He argued that while political parties had the right to campaign, mobilise supporters, and deploy their legitimate structures, there should be limits when such mobilisation involved the overwhelming presence of serving governors and senior public officials on election day. "There is a point at which political mobilisation, particularly when it involves the overwhelming presence of serving governors, senior public officials and powerful political actors from across the country on election day, can create an atmosphere of apprehension, intimidation, bullying and undue pressure," he warned.
Jonathan recalled that as president, he had confronted a similar situation during the 2013 Anambra and 2014 Ekiti governorship elections when senior political leaders mobilised and descended upon those states. "Upon being briefed, I ordered party leaders and senior government officials to leave the states immediately," he said. He stressed that the emerging trend, if left unchecked, could have serious long-term implications for Nigeria's democratic stability. "This trend is unwholesome. If left unchecked, it could threaten our fragile democracy and have serious long-term implications for democratic stability," he warned.
The former president also raised concerns about the precedent such conduct could create, asking what would happen if governors from rival political parties began mobilising their political structures and security details to every state conducting a competitive election. "What happens when each party seeks to match political power with political power, governmental influence with governmental influence, and mobilisation with counter‑mobilisation?" he asked. Jonathan said such a situation would increase political tensions and could gradually turn elections into battles for political survival rather than peaceful contests for the mandate of voters.
Jonathan said the matter should not be treated as a partisan dispute concerning the Osun election but as a broader national issue concerning the future of Nigeria's electoral democracy. He called for an urgent national stakeholders' engagement involving INEC, political parties, security agencies, the National Peace Committee, the Nigeria Governors' Forum, the National Assembly, and the Nigerian Bar Association to establish clear boundaries for political conduct during off‑cycle elections. "Those of us who have occupied public office must recognise that our conduct carries a greater responsibility. The power and influence attached to public office should be used to strengthen democratic institutions, not to undermine them," he said.
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