The former president compared the rulings on certain electoral issues to a “inverted cone.”

Jonathan said this while celebrating the 67th birthday of a senior lawyer of Nigeria, Professor Mike Ozekhomein Abuja on Thursday, October 17, 2024.

He said, “At the rate at which things are evolving in this country, especially listening to the judgments rendered on political matters, we are beginning to see that democracy in Nigeria is like a cone that is turned upside down.

“And if a cone is knocked over, it cannot be stable and at the slightest disturbance it will fall. When I heard some senior lawyers like Olisa Agbakoba commenting on some Supreme Court judgments, I was very sad that the country had reached this level.”

So that democracy can flourish in Nigeria, the former president warned the bar and the judiciary against the influence of politicians.

“If our democracy is to endure, people, both at the bar and on the bench, should not allow themselves to be swept away by political influence. This is the only way to stabilize the political process.

“I know lawyers like it because after the election there’s always an avalanche of litigation, because it’s like Christmas for lawyers.

“But in most other countries, people don’t go to court, but in Nigeria, pre-election and post-election cases fill all the courts and that doesn’t give a good sign for democracy.” he said.

He said a particular court verdict has haunted him since it was handed down because the judgment flipped the cone.

He added that if the courts failed to examine the matter, it could create instability in the Nigerian political system.