The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Usman, has challenged Nigeria’s political leaders to emulate former President Goodluck Jonathan’s non-violent approach to power, warning that the survival of the country’s democracy may again depend on the willingness of politicians to put national interest above personal ambition.

Usman said Nigeria’s democracy survived what she described as the dire predictions surrounding the 2015 general elections because Jonathan accepted defeat and conceded to Muhammadu Buhari before the final results had been fully declared.

The Labour Party chairman spoke on Tuesday in Bauchi during the 2026 Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Democracy Dialogue, themed, “Beyond Elections: Can Political Parties and the Judiciary Save African Democracy?”

According to her, Jonathan’s decision remains one of the most significant sacrifices made by a Nigerian political leader for the preservation of democracy.

She recalled that Jonathan had consistently maintained throughout his presidency that neither his election nor his continued stay in office was worth the blood of any Nigerian.

When that principle was eventually tested in 2015, Usman said, the former President lived up to his words.

“Such a principled approach to politics had never before been witnessed on the Nigerian political horizon,” she said.

Usman warned politicians preparing for the 2027 elections that the true test of democratic leadership would not only be their ability to win elections but their willingness to accept outcomes and protect the nation when their personal ambitions are challenged.

She invoked the famous saying attributed to Warren Buffett that someone sitting in the shade today is there because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

Usman said Nigerians were enjoying democratic continuity today because Jonathan had made a sacrifice at a critical moment in the country’s history.

She, however, questioned whether politicians seeking the presidency in 2027 would be prepared to make a similar sacrifice, particularly against the backdrop of what she described as increasingly inflammatory rhetoric from political camps.

“Given the enormity of inflammatory rhetoric coming from the camps of political parties, would any of the present-day presidential candidates be capable of making such sacrifices in the interest of the nation?” she asked.

The Labour Party chairman also used the occasion to project her party as the strongest platform for challenging the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.

She claimed that the Labour Party is currently the most structured opposition political party in Nigeria, arguing that its relationship with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), both constitutional members of the party, gives it an advantage over other opposition platforms.

“No Nigerian political party is better positioned to show the APC government the exit door than the Labour Party,” she said.

Usman consequently called on opposition parties pursuing a coalition ahead of the 2027 elections to collapse their structures into the Labour Party, arguing that it remains the only opposition party with a realistic presence across Nigeria’s 186,000 polling units.

The Democracy Dialogue, organised by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, attracted political leaders and dignitaries including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former President Goodluck Jonathan, former Vice President Namadi Sambo, Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim, former Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang, APC Deputy National Chairman, South, Dr. Ben Nwoye, and the Emir of Bauchi, HRM Dr. Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu.

The gathering, coming ahead of the 2027 elections, placed renewed attention on the role of political parties, the judiciary and political actors in protecting Nigeria’s democratic institutions beyond the ballot box.