Former Liberian President George Weah has urged African politicians to accept electoral defeat and refrain from challenging every election result.
He warned that democracy cannot survive when political actors undermine institutions for personal gain.
Weah, who was keynote speaker at the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said democracy was more than winning elections.
He stressed the importance of the rule of law, independent institutions and peaceful transfer of power.
The conference has the theme: “Beyond Limits.”
The former football star said losing an election was part of democracy and should not automatically lead to endless disputes over election figures.
He said: “I did not wait for the counts to be completed or for the final results to be formally announced before I picked up the phone to congratulate my successor.”
Urging losers not to “contest every figure until the very last vote is satisfied,” he added: “I chose to concede while the counting was ongoing because I have always believed, and still believe, that the will of the people must stand above the ambitions of any one man in the democratic sense.
“NBA’s citation spoke directly of that decision of a leader who chose to put his country before his own ambition. And I want to thank the Nigerian Bar Association for that recognition.
“Elections are now the doorway into democracy, not the house itself.
”What holds us up, what keeps the roof from collapsing on the people who live inside, are our institutions and, among the most important of these, in every serious nation, is an independent judiciary protected by a fearless, principled bar.”
Weah said democratic governance was tested more after elections than on election day.
“Democracy properly understood does not end on election night.
“It is tested every single day after, in how power treats the courts and the parliament that exists to restrain it,” he said.
He warned that the threat to democracy did not come only from military coups or defeated candidates who refused to leave office, but also from elected leaders who gradually became authoritarian.
“It is also a leader who arrives in office through free and fair elections and, over time, often gradually, begins to govern like the very dictator that democracy was meant to guard against.
“A tyrant with a certificate of return is still a tyrant,” Weah said.
He urged lawyers to remain vigilant in protecting democratic institutions, saying the judiciary must be independent and capable of checking executive power without political interference.
“The bar and the bench are guardians of our democracy,” he said.
Weah also recalled a statement by NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN) that democracy could not survive on strong men but on strong institutions.
“That sentence deserves to be written above the door of every parliament and every courtroom in West Africa,” he said.
The former Liberian leader said the rule of law should guarantee equal protection for all citizens, regardless of their position.
“It is a guarantee that a journalist, a trader, or a student in Burkina Faso has the same protection under the law as a minister or a general,” he said.
He warned that once such guarantees were weakened, investment, security, public trust and peace would also suffer.
Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, represented by the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, said the judiciary had a responsibility to improve its processes and embrace technology. NigerianEconomic Reports
She said courts across the country were adopting digitalisation and electronic case management to improve justice delivery.
“The world in which we practise is changing rapidly. Technology is transforming legal research, case management and delivery of legal services, while artificial intelligence is raising new technical questions both for the bar and the Bench.
“We must be prepared to understand these developments and use them responsibly,” she said.
The CJN said the Supreme Court had recently launched the Nigerian Case Management System, an electronic regime for the management and filing of cases. NigerianEconomic Reports
Justice Amadi, in his remarks, said the judiciary had a critical role in ensuring that the wishes of the electorate were upheld in the 2027 general election.
“NBA is a veritable stakeholder in the democratic transition. Politicians must be told that no ambition is worth a human life.
“The future of Nigerian democracy rests on our shoulders,” he said.
The CJN also congratulated the NBA President-elect, Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, on her victory, saying excellence should be the main determinant in the selection of leaders.
Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara said the judiciary must have the courage and commitment to speak truth to power through its judgments.
“The ultimate aim of law is to protect and advance citizen security, safeguarding fundamental human rights and fostering an environment conducive to socio-economic activities and national development,” he said.
Fubara said the judiciary had a key role in sustaining democracy, the rule of law and good governance, without which a country could not thrive.
He urged judges to consider the broader consequences of their decisions on society.
“Judges must consider the overall impact of judgments on the polity, because law, order and national development are inextricably linked to the quality of justice delivery,” he said.
“We expect that our judges should not be conformists if they are to be the ultimate guardians of our democracy, the rule of law and advancement of peace and development of our country.”
Outgoing NBA President Osigwe, SAN, said the conference theme was chosen to emphasise that Nigeria could overcome its limitations and become one of the greatest black nations in the world.
He said Nigeria had the potential to become one of the world’s greatest countries but had allowed tribal and religious divisions to hinder its development.
“We don’t think ourselves as a nation. We’re parochial. Our sense of nationhood is not as high as it should be,” Osigwe said.
He said Nigerians must stop allowing their limitations to define what they could achieve, adding that lawyers had a critical role in shaping the country’s future. NigerianEconomic Reports
“We must not allow limits to determine what we can achieve,” he said.
“As lawyers, we’re custodians of the promise of Nigeria.”
