Former President Goodluck Jonathan has addressed the issue of voter turnout in Nigeria, attributing it to the presence of numerous ghost voters on the electoral register.
Gatekeepers News reports that his comments were made during the YIAGA Africa reflection conference on democratic elections in West Africa, held in Abuja on Tuesday.
Jonathan highlighted that West Africa has made notable progress in its democratic development over the past few decades, despite facing various challenges.
He acknowledged the advancements in electoral processes, such as the introduction of the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal during the 2023 general election in Nigeria.
However, he also pointed out that, despite these technological improvements, issues such as logistical difficulties, technical glitches, and allegations of irregularities continued to mar the electoral process in Nigeria and Sierra Leone in 2023.
He said Ghana, however, conducted successful elections “despite the use of limited technology”.
“The electoral commission of Ghana and security authorities played a crucial role in ensuring the elections are free and fair, demonstrating that Ghana’s democratic processes have continued to be resilient even with limited technology,” he said.
“Two other countries, Liberia and Senegal, also conducted general elections with limited deployment of technology. In these countries, the processes were generally peaceful, transparent, and with a high voter turnout.
“In some countries, we saw the power of technology in enhancing transparency and accountability. The use of biometric voter registration, electronic voting systems, and real-time result transmission helped to build public trust in the electoral process. These innovations, where they worked, should be celebrated and replicated across the region.
“On the other hand, we also witnessed the dangers of political intolerance, hate speech, and the manipulation of ethnic and religious divisions for electoral gain.”
Jonathan said in Liberia, Senegal, and Ghana where there was a high voter turnout and smooth transition of power, there was public enthusiasm for democratic participation and consolidation.
He said in countries with superior technology, electoral processes trigger more agitations, legal battles, and political tensions.
The ex-governor said this underscores the place of the human element in deepening democratic roots.
Jonathan recalled the technological advancements in Nigeria’s electoral process, from when there was no voter register to the introduction of the card reader.
“We have migrated above the card reader to the BVAS which is expected to be more advanced but the problems are more than when we used the card reader,” he said.
“If we look at elections, I think we are progressing our election in terms of the development of technology.
“While we are progressing in terms of adopting technology, the outcome is retrogressing and this is not what we expect.”
Jonathan said for elections in Nigeria to be free and fair, the heads of electoral commissions must be credible.
“If we don’t have this kind of people, then we are in trouble. If you are accepting to be chairman of INEC or to be a commissioner in INEC, then you should be ready that if I’m pressurised to do what is wrong, I will take care of the democratic people,” he said.
The former president also said he believes that “we have too many ghost voters”.
“So whenever the situation is strong, when both parties are strong, and you cannot manipulate the system, then only the real human beings will get the vote. And the real human beings will be left at 50 percent,” he added.
