Former President Goodluck Jonathan has called for standard electoral practice in the country, saying ballot paper, not the court should determine the winner of an election.
The former president stated this on Monday in an interaction with reporters during a visit to TOSTV network studios in Abuja.
He noted that the electoral management bodies have the sole responsibility of returning candidates and declaring winners while the judiciary complements by either upholding declared results or nullifying flawed elections and ordering a rerun.
However, several cases of electoral contests between parties have been decided by the court regardless of the result announced by the electoral body.
“I had already made a public statement on that to the effect that the ballot paper and not the judiciary should determine who wins elections or select political leaders. The ballot paper should be the only basis for selecting political leaders,” he said.
Speaking further, the former president identified that foreign countries that conduct free and fair elections are characterised by fewer election-related litigations.
He also noted that numerous court cases following elections are the hallmark of fragile democracies.
“I have said this before and I will always repeat it. I am not saying the judiciary is not doing well. But my point is that our laws should suppress the issue of the judiciary returning candidates. If a candidate is declared winner after a flawed electoral process, what the courts can do is to annul the election and order a fresh one, where a winner will finally emerge through the ballot. The ballot paper should decide who holds any elective office from the councillorship to the presidency. That is democracy,” he further stated.
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