Ex-Liberian President Warns African Leaders: Democracy at Risk When Elected Govts Become Tyrannical
– Fubara, NBA president charge lawyers to defend rule of law, judicial independence
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
Former Liberian President George Weah has warned African leaders against undermining democracy through political manipulation, pressure on the judiciary and the weakening of institutions, saying an elected leader can become a tyrant if he governs without respect for constitutional checks and balances.
Weah gave the warning yesterday as keynote speaker at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he charged lawyers across Africa to defend the rule of law and protect citizens from abuse of political power.
Speaking on the theme, “Beyond Limits,” the former Liberian president said democracy must not be reduced to the conduct of elections, stressing that its survival depended on strong institutions, particularly an independent judiciary and a fearless legal profession.
“Democracy does not survive on the strength of elections alone. Elections are now the doorway into democracy, not the house itself,” Weah said.
According to him, the greater threat to democracy was not only military coups or defeated politicians refusing to accept election results, but also elected governments that gradually weaken democratic institutions after assuming office.
He warned that leaders could manipulate budgets, appointments and institutions, while pressuring judges and legislatures until they ceased to function as checks on executive power.
“A tyrant with a certificate of return is still a tyrant,” he declared, urging the legal profession to ensure that court decisions remained binding irrespective of political considerations.
Weah, who was President of Liberia from 2018 to 2024, also cited his decision to concede defeat in Liberia’s 2023 presidential election before the final results were formally announced, saying he placed the will and peace of his country above personal ambition.
He said the decision demonstrated that political leaders must understand that public office was a temporary stewardship and that no position was worth sacrificing national peace and democratic stability.
The former football star also challenged African countries to move beyond the narrative of “brain drain” by deliberately creating systems that would allow professionals in the diaspora to contribute their expertise to national development.
He urged African governments to promote “brain circulation,” noting that lawyers, academics and other professionals working abroad could be mobilised to support legal, judicial and institutional reforms at home.
Weah said the legal profession had a critical role in ensuring that democracy, justice and human rights were protected, urging lawyers to embody discipline, hard work, respect, perseverance and spiritual strength.
He said the true measure of a lawyer was not the number of cases won or the titles attained, but the courage to stand when the country needed courage and to speak when justice needed a voice.
Declaring the conference open, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, urged the bar and bench to rise above political pressure, technicalities, corruption and other impediments to justice.
Fubara said judges must possess the courage and integrity to hold both government and citizens accountable to the Constitution, stressing that public confidence in the judiciary depended on impartiality and sound legal reasoning.
The governor disclosed that his administration had expanded access to justice through the appointment of more judges and establishment of additional courts, including the construction of a Federal High Court building, which he said would be handed over before the end of the year.
He also reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to the administrative and financial autonomy of the Rivers State Judiciary and pledged continued partnership with the NBA in strengthening the rule of law.
Earlier, the outgoing NBA President, Afam Osigwe, said the decision to return the conference to Port Harcourt was deliberate after the association withdrew the event from the city in 2025 following the declaration of a state of emergency and suspension of democratic institutions in the state.
Osigwe said the NBA had promised to return once democratic governance was restored, adding that the association had kept its word because “agreement is agreement.”
He said the conference theme was a call for Nigerians, particularly lawyers, to confront the country’s challenges rather than surrender to limitations.
Osigwe lamented that 66 years after independence, Nigeria had yet to fully realise the aspirations of its founding generation, despite its enormous human and material resources.
He charged lawyers to defend the Constitution, deepen access to justice, promote institutional reform and strengthen national security through the rule of law.
The NBA president also called for the use of technology to accelerate justice delivery and clear the backlog of cases, while urging members of the profession to uphold the highest ethical standards.
He said Nigerians and the wider society were looking to the legal profession for justice, insisting that lawyers must rise to the occasion by providing practical solutions to the nation’s challenges.