Former President Goodluck Jonathan has accused Nigerian politicians of undermining the electoral system in Nigeria.
Jonathan who spoke in Port Harcourt during the presentation of a book by Gabriel Toby, a former deputy governor of Rivers on Thursday November 14, called for the adoption of electronic system of voting to curb electoral malpractices as he stated that the country would not have deteriorated to this point if people’s votes mattered.
He admitted that there is an assumption that every politician is useless but averred that people don’t change when elected into public office. The Bayelsa-born politician insisted that what happens is we vote for people we do not know.
He said: “The assumption is that every politician is useless, but the question of whether people change when they are elected into public office is something political analysts, researchers should unravel.
“However, I believe that people do not change when they get into political office, rather we voted for people we do not know.
“It is difficult to know people until you give the person political office and public funds to spend, that’s when you know the true character of such fellow.
“Another key issue is that we do not vote people into leadership offices, they use different means to get into office.
“When we develop as a nation to a point where our votes count, when people vote who they believe in, the behaviour of politicians will change.”
