Peter Obi, who was once a presidential candidate under the Labour Party, has advised President Bola Tinubu to learn from the examples of former leaders Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.

Obi said Tinubu should take a similar path as Yar’Adua, who admitted that his own election process was flawed. He also pointed out that Jonathan acted in the country’s best interest when he accepted defeat during the 2015 election.

The former governor of Anambra State gave this advice while speaking on June 12, Nigeria’s Democracy Day.

Obi said that for democracy to improve in Nigeria, Tinubu should follow Yar’Adua’s example of admitting problems in the electoral system and working to fix them quickly.

He also praised Goodluck Jonathan for helping to protect democracy by accepting the election results peacefully, even before the full results were officially announced.

Obi said it’s time to end a style of governance where laws are ignored, and leaders do whatever they like without being held accountable.

He expressed sadness that Nigeria can no longer be seen as a democratic nation because the signs of a real democracy are missing.

According to him, democracy is supposed to be about the people—led by the people and working for the people—but these basic ideas are no longer present in Nigeria’s current system.

He also said that the laws guiding who can contest and hold office are not followed. Because of this, some individuals who should not be in office are still holding public positions.

Obi criticized the government for promoting failure and spreading false stories to control the people. He said this has become common under the current leadership.

He also said that instead of being open and showing real results, the government chooses to twist the truth, blame others, and use its power in a harmful way.