If elections in Africa will be free of shenanigans and enjoy the confidence of the electorate, then African countries must go for electronic voting, a former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan has opined.

He also suggested that added to that the practice of one person appointing the electoral umpire and constituting election petition panels must be jettisoned.

Furthermore, Jonathan advised that everything should be done to ensure the independence and neutrality of security agencies, especially, during the elections.

The former President proffered these solutions to redeem Africa’s ailing electoral processes during a book launch as part of activities marking the second term inauguration of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike in Port Harcourt on Monday, May 27, 2019.

Elections in Africa have remained controversial, violence-prone and producing outcomes that are generally rejected by either parties to the election or by the populace.

Jonathan, himself, lost the 2015 elections as an incumbent to President Muhammadu Buhari, in an election, though adjudged as free and fair by majority of Nigerians but was rejected by his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Otueke-born former President maintained that his proffered solutions, if implemented would serve for a smoother and more transparent process in future elections in the country and across Africa.

He advocated for amendments to extant electoral laws in the country so as not to repeat the mistakes of the 2019 elections, urging lawmakers to study the 2019 elections and come up with a framework for better elections in 2023.

He said, “The judicial process where one person constitutes all the election tribunal to hear petitions is not right. It is difficult in a democracy for someone to be extremely neutral.

“In one way or the other, somebody close to you will be in one party or the other. The only way to be above is to make sure that one person does not have the power to constitute tribunals to listen to all cases,” he buttressed, noting that this process will continue to erode confidence in the system.

He added that, “if democracy must be sustained in Africa, then the process leading to elections and the conduct of elections must be done in a way that people will have confidence in the system”.