Former President Goodluck Jonathan and wife, Patience vote at Ogbia Ward 13, Unit 39 in Bayelsa State.

Okafor Ofiebor

Former President Goodluck Jonathan and Wife Dame Patience have voted  at Ogbia Ward 13, Unit 39 in Bayelsa State.

Shortly after voting,Jonathan spoke against the prevalence of off cyccle election as it is going on in the three states of Bayelsa,Imo and Kogi .

He said the trend is very unhealthy in our body polity because in other parts of the world the times and dates of both the Governorship and Presidential elections are known and sacrosanct.

He charged the Press to speak up against the ugly trend, urging the National Assembly to do something urgently about it so that all elections come at the same time.

Dr Jonathan stated Nigeria is on trying doing is only trying to enforce the law derived from Court judgements but strange other parts of the world that practice democracy.

“Yes, some states in the US have their own periods to elect a governor but that such dates are sacrosanct and well known to the citizenry.

“The date and time the President and Governors begin and end should be uniform and known, not the off circle kind of a thing. Journalists should be advocates of unified dates and times of different elections so that it will not  get to the point where Presidential election begins to shift and vary.

Specifically talking about  Bayelsa voting, he said he was in touch with all parts of the state and so far it has been relatively peaceful, but remarked it could be too early to adjudge until all reports come from the local government areas that make up Bayelsa State.