As campaigns for the 2027 general elections heat up, former President Goodluck Jonathan has warned politicians to play according to the rules, saying it would be wrong for candidates to manoeuvre the system just to win an election.
Jonathan’s admonition appears to counter President Bola Tinubu’s earlier remark that “all is fair in politics.”
Delivering a goodwill message at a public lecture held to mark the 80th birthday of a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Kanu Agabi, SAN, ex-President Jonathan, who voluntarily conceded defeat to the opposition party in 2015, maintained that politicians cannot justify every action taken to win an election by simply describing it as politics.
According to him, electoral contests must be governed by established rules, and politicians should not treat the quest for victory as justification for misconduct.
He said, “In politics, it is 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 is why the courts step in to mediate if you go against the rules. Otherwise, you can do anything and win an election and walk away.”
The erstwhile president also stressed that the anti-corruption fight in the country requires more than laws and enforcement agencies, emphasising that enduring change would depend on building a society where ethical conduct is valued above wrongdoing.
“The challenge before Nigeria is not simply to make laws against corruption. It is to build a culture in which ethical conduct becomes the norm, where public office is treated as a trust, and where institutions are strong enough to uphold accountability.
“We cannot continue to claim that private corruption will just keep going around in circles. It cannot go anywhere until we develop that culture, and nobody does wrong willingly,” he added.
Recalling an experience in Rwanda, Jonathan said the country’s social values discourage public officials from accepting gifts that could be considered inappropriate.
He said the experience demonstrated how deeply rooted social norms can influence public conduct beyond what formal laws prescribe.
“I gave this to my aides to give to the people who take care of me. If you give me a hotel room where nobody can see anybody, where it is free, they say it is not the culture of Rwanda to accept the little gift — just a gift,” he said.
Meanwhile, he stressed that key institutions in the country, especially the judiciary, have an important role to play in ensuring accountability when rules are violated.
“All of us Nigerians have a major role to play if we want to suppress corruption, not just the bodies established by law to discipline and punish those who do it,” he stated, even as he urged politicians to exhibit higher moral standards.
