Former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has called for the strengthening of the nation’s electoral laws to allow the ballot count. He said it should be reviewed in such a way that only the ballot paper, and not the courts, is allowed to determine the winners of elections.
The former President stressed that the standard practice is that the electoral management bodies exercise the sole responsibility of returning candidates and declaring winners while the judiciary complements by either upholding declared results or nullifying flawed elections and ordering a rerun.
A release by his Special Adviser on Media, Ikechukwu Eze, said Jonathan stated this on Monday in an interaction with newsmen during a visit to TOSTV Network studios in Abuja.
He said: “I had already made a public statement on that to the effect that the ballot paper, and not the judiciary should determine who wins elections, or select political leaders. The ballot paper should be the only basis for selecting political leaders.”
Dr. Jonathan further noted that countries that conduct free and fair elections experience less election-related litigations while numerous Court cases following elections are the hallmark of fragile democracies.
He said: “I have said this before, and I will always repeat it. I am not saying the Judiciary is not doing well. But my point is that our laws should suppress the issue of the Judiciary returning candidates. If a candidate is declared winner after a flawed electoral process, what the Courts can do is to annul the election and order a fresh one, where a winner will, finally, emerge through the ballot. The ballot paper should decide who holds any elective office from the Councillorship to the Presidency . That is democracy.”
The former President who, also, admitted that some funds might be needed in elections, especially in the area of logistics during campaigns, however, frowned at the negative way money is deployed in inducing electorates, officials and security operatives.
Dr. Jonathan pointed out the weakness of governance at lo6cal Government level which is the third tier of Government, particularly, in the exercise of its autonomy and its capacity to manage development issues.
He, therefore, highlighted the need to review the Local Government system to enable the tier of Government perform better in delivering democracy dividends to the people.
