Jonathan wants National Assembly to work towards stopping off-season elections

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has called on the National Assembly to work towards stopping off-season elections in Nigeria.

Jonathan said this on Saturday after casting his vote at Polling Unit 39, Ward 13, Otuoke, Ogbia in the Local Government Area of Bayelsa state.

The former president first spoke about the off-season governorship elections which took place in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states on Saturday.

“First, let me congratulate all the three states that have elections today, Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi basically, because this is an off-cycle election,” he said.

“I get worried about the issue of off-season election and I will use this as a unique opportunity to plead with the National Assembly that we need to block this off-season election; its very odd, it’s not a global best practice.”

According to Jonathan, a country can elect its people at different times like the United States.

He added that they may not elect at the same time but every time they go on to conduct elections, they elect everybody that is meant to be elected.

“If we continue with this trend of off-season elections based on the interpretation of our laws, it will come to a time that the Presidential election will be off-season probably that’s the time that a lot of you media people should be worried,” he said.

“Look at the American system, everybody knows when their elections will be conducted, that’s the standard practice of other countries. When I say Nigerian Presidential election may be off-season some day, some people will say how? why?”

Jonathan said it almost happened in 2007 when he contested as a running mate to the late former President Musa Yar’Adua.

“You know that election, the seven justices that presided over the case, three of them, in their own judgment, said that the election be annulled, four of them sustained and that is why we stayed, if one had crossed over, by now the presidential election will be off season and it is not the best for a country,” Jonathan said.

“These 7 states with off-season elections can be migrated back to fall in line with the other states. The National Assembly can do that’; that is my message for the National Assembly and for Nigerians today.”