2023: Goodluck Jonathan Describes Ongoing Party Primaries as a Mess
- Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is not impressed with the way political parties have been conducting their primaries ahead of the 2023 polls
- The former Nigerian president said the process across parties have been completely chaotic and shambolic
- The former Nigerian leader urged the National Assembly to make laws to criminalise the inducement of delegates during party primaries
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FCT, Abuja - Former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has condemned the ongoing party primaries ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Jonathan made the comment on Thursday, May 26 in Abuja at a book launch titled “Political Party Governance” authored by Dr. Mohammed Wakil, a former Minister of state, power.
Source: Twitter
He said it was disgraceful to induce delegates to get their votes and then request for refund after failing to secure tickets.
His words:
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“These whole primaries going on across the country is a mess. This is not a standard practice. The process has failed.
“We cannot use the process to elect president, governors, senators, and House of Representatives members and others.
“The process is already failed, which is not good for the country. But we will manage and move on.
“We pray that good people should come. I hope that what happened this year, 2022 will not happen again in this country.”
The former president, therefore, urged the National Assembly to make laws to criminalise the inducement of delegates during party primaries and electorates during elections.
He also asked the legislature to expunge from the Electoral Act, the sections that state how political parties should select candidates for elections.
His words:
“The National Assembly can’t make laws and lock all political parties together. Parties have different ways of nominating candidates and the process is enshrined in their constitutions.
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“Creating a situation where all parties must have the same way of selecting candidates is nonsense. Parties are not parastatals of government.
“The National Assembly can’t make laws to strangulate political parties. Section 84 should be expunged from the Electoral Act.”
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the event, the author, Dr Wakil said:
“I have many reasons why I wrote this book. Number one is because of my students, because I am currently lecturing postgraduate students at the Nigerian Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies, an affiliate of the University of Benin.
“I am lecturing a course called political party governance, and I find out that we lack literature in that area. That prompted me to write the book.
“If you don't fix the political party, which is the vehicle for contesting elections, you can't good leaders and by extension, good governance. Many scholars wrote pages and scripts, but nobody sat down to write a book on political party governance.
“What I intend to achieve is to stimulate discussions among the academics, the politicians and draw their attention to the fact that what we are doing is wrong.
“Virtually all politicians are victims of political party governance. The issue of godfatherism, funding, mobilisation for membership, and so forth and so on.”
2023: GUTS unveils plan, takes sensitization to youths, others
Meanwhile, the Gina Unimke and Trisha Shine foundation has launched a massive plan ahead of the 2023 general elections.
In its unveiling statement issued on Thursday, May 5 in Abuja, the foundation stressed the importance of participatory democracy and a credible poll come 2023.
The statement signed by its media coordinator, Mr. Akuma Ukpo, said 2023 was critical for the future of the country and all stakeholders must be committed to ensuring that the future of the country is guaranteed.
2023: FCI to partner with other agencies to combat fake news
On its part, FactCheck Initiative (FCI) has created a team for a cause that will involve partnering with the government and other agencies in other to have free, fair, and peaceful elections in Nigeria void of any form of violence in 2023.
The main aim of this cause will be to spot, examine and respond to the impact caused by any misleading information ahead of the upcoming 2023 general elections in Nigeria.
Adeoye Temitope, country director, FactCheck Initiative says stopping fake news and misinformation is the inspiration behind the project.
Source: Legit.ng
