Goodluck Jonathan has criticized the current primaries.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has spoken out against the ongoing primaries for the 2023 presidential election.

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There have been allegations that hopefuls bribed delegates to vote for them.

According to the Daily Trust, Namadi Sambo, the son of Jonathan’s former deputy, wanted a return from delegates who took his money but did not vote for him.

Jonathan said it was disrespectful to induce delegates to obtain their ballots and then want a refund after failing to secure seats at a book launch on Thursday in Abuja titled “Political Party Governance,” penned by Dr. Mohammed Wakil, a former Minister of State for Power.

Jonathan said: “These whole primaries going on across the country is a mess. This is not a standard practice. The process has failed.

“We cannot use the process to elect president, governors, senators, and House of Representatives members and others.

“The process is already failed, which is not good for the country. But we will manage and move on.

“We pray that good people should come. I hope that what happened this year, 2022 will not happen again in this country.”

The former president, therefore, urged the National Assembly to make laws to criminalize the inducement of delegates and the electorate.

He also asked the legislature to expunge from the Electoral Act, the sections that state how political parties should select candidates for elections.

Jonathan said: “The National Assembly can’t make laws and lock all political parties together. Parties have different ways of nominating candidates and the process is enshrined in their constitutions.

“Creating a situation where all parties must have the same way of selecting candidates is nonsense. Parties are not parastatals of government.

“The National Assembly can’t make laws to strangulate political parties. Section 84 should be expunged from the Electoral Act.”