Ifeanyi Valentine
Nigeria’ s Former President, Dr.Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has called on the ECOWAS Sub region to utilize the possibility of technology in our electoral process so as to have free and fair elections. He said this while making his contribution as one of the panelists at the ongoing First Extra Ordinary Session put together by the Fifth Legislature of ECOWAS Parliament holding in Monrovia the capital city of Liberia.
According to him the reason why citizens of the sub region often times lost confident in their leaders is because they believe the use the power of incumbency to manipulate the electoral system so as to continue to perpetuate themselves in power even at the detriment of the people. He 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 criminal to stuff ballot boxes, cause mayhem and disrupt the electoral process;.
“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” Jonathan said.
Former President Ebele Jonathan who was highly applauded by Members of the ECOWAS Parliament for being among the few incumbent African President who demonstrated the ideals of statesmanship and true democrat by relinquish power to his opponent when it was obvious that he has lost the election even before the final result was declared took the august gathering on the journey of his peace mediation in the conflict in Mali. He 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. This is why according to him the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Government imposed sanctions on the junta in Mali. He said that even the negotiations are still going on he is very optimistic that they will find a lasting solution in the near future.
The former President also blamed the political class for being responsible for the upheaval and current challenges bedeviling the sub-region. Some of the reasons he advanced for this state of affairs include among other high level of corruption, bad leadership and lack of respect for the constitution.
Continuing he said, “ECOWAS leaders should strive to meet up with the primary responsibility of setting up the sub regional body which is for economic integration and development. ‘Even if it has to go through a legislative process, leaders in the sub 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 sub region can go to get medical treatment instead of the present trend where community citizens travel to different part of the world to seek medical attention.
“Our leaders must help the citizens of the sub 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” He added.
Former President Jonathan further called 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 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 nations life. And so, it is you the Members of the Parliament 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 instill confidence in the ECOWAS Project.
“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 states legislature. When you go back try as much as possible to work around this observation. We cannot have a constitution that is not dynamic” former President Jonathan Concluded.
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