Deploy Technology for credible elections – Goodluck Jonathan urges ECOWAS

Nigeria’s Former President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has called on the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) to deploy the full use of technology in its electoral process so as to have free and fair elections in the region.

Dr Jonathan made the call in his contribution as one of the panellists at the ongoing First Extra-Ordinary Session of the Fifth Legislature of ECOWAS Parliament taking place in Monrovia the capital of Liberia.

 

I arrived Monrovia, Liberia, to participate in the ongoing 2022 1st Extraordinary Session of the @ECOWASParliamnt. I thank members of the 5th ECOWAS Legislature for inviting me to be part of this programme, which, will advance the cause of democracy in our sub-region.
– GEJ pic.twitter.com/8OvOl330JP

— Goodluck E. Jonathan (@GEJonathan) March 8, 2022

 

#Photostory:At the opening of the 2022 First Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament,President of Liberia, H.E George Weah declared the session open with hopes that deliberations will yield positive results for the people of the sub region.#vision2050 #Extraordinarysession pic.twitter.com/fH2uRHB0fH

— ECOWAS Parliament (@ECOWASParliamnt) March 10, 2022

According to him the reason why citizens of the region often lost confidence in their leaders is that they believe they use the power of incumbency to manipulate the electoral system so as to continue to perpetuate themselves in power even to the detriment of the people.

Dr Jonathan said that if full technology is deployed in all the stages involved in the electoral process the elections will not only be free and fair but it will completely eliminate the manipulation and rigging of election results.

‘’ When technology is deployed across board you will find out people can even vote from the comfort of their homes or in their cars and by so doing politicians will no longer have the opportunity to engage thugs and criminals to stuff ballot boxes, cause mayhem and disrupt the electoral process. “

According to him, if technology is deployed African Presidents who refuse to relinquish power even when they have lost election will find it difficult to manipulate the process because it will be the prerogative of the people to choose to vote them out or allow them to continue in power.

The former Nigerian President was applauded by Members of the ECOWAS Parliament for being among the few incumbent African President who demonstrated the ideals of statesmanship and a true democrat by relinquishing power willingly to his opponent after he lost the presidential election.

Dr Jonathan who also spoke on his peace mediation in the conflict in Mali explained that despite the mediation efforts of his team to find a lasting solution to the political crisis in Mali the Military junta is still proving stubborn.

He disclosed the reason why the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government imposed sanctions on the junta in Mali.

According to Dr Jonathan negotiations are still ongoing and expressed optimism that the issue would soon be resolved.

The former President also blamed the political class for being responsible for the upheaval and current challenges bedevilling the region.

Some of the reasons he advanced for this state of affairs in the region include a high level of corruption, bad leadership and lack of respect for the constitution.

Dr Jonathan said ECOWAS leaders should strive to meet up with the primary responsibility of setting up the regional body which is for economic integration and development.

‘‘Even if it has to go through a legislative process, leaders in the region must play a prominent role in creating and building a strong economic base that can enhance proper economic development within the sub-region.

“What is wrong with ECOWAS building a strong Bank for trade and investment through which it can provide support and grants to help develop infrastructure and industrialization in Member States?

 “What about if ECOWAS can put resources together to build a world-class health facility in one of the Member State where people from the region can go to get medical treatment instead of the present trend where community citizens travel to different parts of the world to seek medical attention.”

According to him, “It is time that our leaders must help the citizens of the region to understand the values of ECOWAS. The citizens must know what they stand to benefit by reason of their country being a Member of the ECOWAS.”

Former President Jonathan charged the ECOWAS Parliament to interrogate these issues and ensure that the ECOWAS Authority do what is right by putting the Executive on their toes.

“The role of the Parliament is critical and being the eyes of democracy you must do everything possible to grow our constitution by consistent amendments depending on societal needs and realities on ground.” 

 “You must not only be proactive but you must also be dynamic and work towards ensuring that the tenets of democracy as enshrined in our constitutions are observed.

“You hear some citizens of Members State questioning the rationale behind their membership of ECOWAS. They believe that ECOWAS is just a club of Heads of States of the sub-region coming together to protect their own interest.

“They feel that the union does not have any impact in their individual or nation’s life. And so it is you the MPs that will assure the citizens of your various countries because you are their representatives. You have to work with the Authority of Heads of States and Governments’ to deliver to your people and help instil confidence in the ECOWAS Project.”

The former President made reference to the constitution of some Francophone countries where he said that experience has shown that there is no clear procedure for removing a President from office even in the event of lack of performance.

“This is totally unacceptable and that is why the people resort to violence and mass action to ventilate their grievances.

 “There must be an acceptable way to remove a President who is not performing. You are members of your state’s legislature. When you go back try as much as possible to work around these observations. ”