Jonathan says ongoing party primaries have already failed, which is not good for democracy and the country.
Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has decried the auction going on in the name of party’s primaries where tickets of political parties go to the highest bidder.
Recall that the son of former Vice President Namadi Sambo demanded a refund from delegates who collected his money but failed to vote for him.
A former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, said some aspirants in Kaduna State employed the services of vigilante to recover their money from delegates who didn’t vote for them.
Speaking on Thursday in Abuja at a book launch titled “Political Party Governance” authored by Dr Mohammed Wakil, a former Minister of State, Power, Jonathan said it was disgraceful to induce delegates to get their votes and then request for a refund after failing to secure tickets.
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Jonathan said: “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 and the electorate.
He also asked the legislature to expunge from the Electoral Act, the sections that state how political parties should select candidates for elections.
Jonathan said: “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.
“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.”
