Jonathan’s Concerns
If tabled for an engaging debate, there are sufficient reasons to infer that the nation’s electoral system has not recorded significant improvement, taking it from 1999, when Nigeria returned to civil rule. Yet, there have been improvements, such that the political actors and their allies can latch on to whenever the opportunity avails itself to reel out the democratic gains so far.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan, last week, fuelled an intriguing debate, however, in an uncommon fashion, when he admonished the electorate to take back their power and the right to choose leaders of their choice. Jonathan spoke in Otuoke, his country home in Bayelsa State, when the Governor Seriake Dickson Peace and Reconciliation Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) visited him.
According to him, the Nigerian electorate might have surrendered their powers to elect leaders of their choice to the courts through different interpretations of legal instruments to impose a different choice on the people other than the ones voted for.
“Here in Nigeria, we have surrendered the power to choose to the courts. We must return the power of electing our leaders back to the people. I respect the judiciary and judges. They are credible men and women. They have decided to serve the people. They also starve themselves to semi imprisonment. The average judge does not socialise to maintain their integrity. When we go and enjoy ourselves, they don’t. They are respected. We (just) want our votes to count.
“Not that after voting, a judicial panel will upturn the vote. I am calling on Nigerian youths to call for a close review of the election process to hand over the power of choice to the people… After voting, it is 10 million votes for Governors or President.
“Your mandate may be upturned by a few judges and this is anomalous in Nigeria. They (political leaders) may be distracted. They will not sit in the office and start going to court. And they are not supposed to be distracted. If a Governor or President is sitting and facing litigation costing millions, his performance will be limited,” he posited.
That the electoral process is still flawed is trite. What is therefore new in Jonathan’s prognosis on the process is the charge for the people to become more aware and take seriously the powers in their votes, not just by casting their ballots, but making sure that their votes count by following through the curve of the election process. And like Hillary Clinton, democratic candidate in the 2016 US presidential election, said recently while taking a jab at the Donald Trump presidency, the resolution of the Nigerian electorate lies in these four words: “resist, insist, persist and enlist”, if they genuinely desire to take the bull by the horn. Jonathan has set the agenda; they have a responsibility to live it.