Akeem Oyetunji, Abuja
DISTURBED by the prolonged litigation that characterised the 2007 elections, President Goodluck Jonathan Monday night promised to ensure that next year’s elections are free, fair and litigation-free.
To achieve this, he said he was prepared to change the orientation of post-election era by ensuring that the 2011 election is credible, free and fair.
Speaking at a dinner organised in his honour by the Nigerian community in Kampala, Uganda, where he attended the 15th African Union Summit, Jonathan described post-election litigation as “unnecessary distraction to governance,” vowing to give the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the necessary cooperation to produce an indisputable election.
He promised to ensure that the laws guiding electoral process in the country are strictly adhered to by both the INEC officials and politicians in such a way that the results from the polls would be indisputable.
He also described as unacceptable the situation whereby the president and/or governors are bogged down by litigation long after their inauguration.
Jonathan noted that it is not proper for political office holders who enjoy immunity to be battling with litigation, while in office, saying such negates the essence of the immunity clause of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution.
His words: “The essence of the immunity clause in the constitution is that if a president or a governor takes an oath of office, he should sit down and concentrate on the job; and when he leaves office, he can be prosecuted for any offence.
“But because of the way we conduct our elections, the president who sits in office is distracted with election issues, and it affects us.”
