Nigeria’s former president, Goodluck Jonathan says off season elections do not augur well for the country and should be stopped.
Jonathan expressed this view in an interview with the media in Otuoke, Bayelsa State after casting his vote, Saturday morning, in the off season governorship election.
Jonathan congratulated the three states (Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo) currently conducting off season elections and said: “But, because this is an offseason election and I get worried about the issue of offseason elections, I will use this unique opportunity to plead with the National Assembly that we need to block this office in elections. It’s very odd. It’s not global best practice.”
“A country can elect its people at different times, like America and some countries, but not everybody at the same time. But anytime they go to an election, they elect everybody.”
He added: “If we continue with this trend of off-season elections based on the interpretation of our laws by the judicial officer, in that case, we’ll come to a time when the presidential election in Nigeria may be off-season. Probably that is the time that all of you media people and others will be worried.
According to him, that almost happened in 2007 when he ran as a running mate to the late President Yar’Adua.
“Look at the American system; everybody knows when the American elections will be held, and that’s become standard practice,” he added.
He said, “You know that in that election, three of the seven justices that presided over the case stated in their judgment that the election be annulled. Four of them sustained the elections, and that is why we stayed. If one has crossed over, by now, the presidential election in Nigeria would have been an off-season election, and it is not the best for a country.
“Now we have seven states that are off-season. We need to stop there, and where possible, these seven states can be migrated back and fall in line with the other states, and the National Assembly can do that. That is my message for the National Assembly, my message for Nigerians.”
He added: “On the other hand, I wish the election success. I’ve been monitoring what is happening in Bayelsa State. I’ve asked people across the local governments, and for now, there are no major things to be worried about, apart from the Basambari part of the Nimbe local government, which has been in conflict for quite some time before the election.
“Apart from that, I think the elections are going well, but we cannot conclude until the end of the voting period. So once again, I thank you and wish you well.”
