Former Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has said any leader who fails to perform should be voted out of office if proper elections are conducted.
This is as former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the
President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, called for the reform of democracy and
its protection in Africa.
Jonathan stated that electoral manipulation is one of the
biggest threats to democracy in Africa.
According to him, unless stakeholders come together to
rethink and reform democracy, it may collapse in Africa.
Jonathan stated this at the 2025 edition of the Goodluck
Jonathan Foundation, GJF, Democracy Dialogue, held in Accra, Ghana.
The former Nigerian leader, in a statement issued on
Saturday by Communications Officer at Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Wealth
Dickson Ominabo, said where democracy fails to meet expectations, desperation
can open the door to authoritarianism.
He added that leaders must commit to the kind of democracy
that guarantees a great future for the children, where their voices matter.
“Democracy in the African continent is going through a
period of strain and risk of collapse unless stakeholders come together to
rethink and reform it. Electoral manipulation remains one of the biggest
threats in Africa.
“We in Africa must begin to look at our democracy and
rethink it in a way that works well for us and our people. One of the problems
is our electoral system. People manipulate the process to remain in power by
all means.
“If we had proper elections, a leader who fails to perform
would be voted out. But in our case, people use the system to perpetuate
themselves even when the people don’t want them,” he said.
Also speaking, the President of Ghana, Mahama, said
democracy would not survive unless Africans actively worked to protect and strengthen
it.
He warned that weak institutions, elite capture, exclusion,
leadership deficits, and external interference erode citizens’ trust in
democracy.
On his part, former President Obasanjo, who was the chairman
of the event, warned that democracy risks collapse if it continued to be
practised in its current form without urgent reforms.
He said Africa’s current democratic practice is
unsustainable and must be urgently reformed.
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