Former President Goodluck Jonathan has urged the National Assembly to enact legislation to end off-cycle elections in Nigeria.
He expressed the need for the country to have a unified electoral calendar.
He stated that off-season elections are not the best for the country and are not a globally accepted practice.
Jonathan made these remarks after casting his vote in the ongoing governorship election in Bayelsa.
He said:
“Basically this is an off-season election. I get worried about off-season elections and will use this opportunity to plead with the National Assembly to block it.
“This is not the best practice. The country can elect their people at the same time as the Americans who elect everybody at the same time.
“If we continue with this, there will be a time the Nigerian presidential election will be off-season, and Nigerians would be worried.
“When I say Nigeria presidential election maybe off-season, they may say how and why. It almost happened in 2007 when I was the running mate to late Umaru Musa Yaradua.
“In that election, seven Justices presided over the case, and three of them said the process be annulled while four of them sustained it.
“If one had crossed over by now the Nigerian election would have been off-season,” he added.
