Former President Goodluck Jonathan has advocated repealing Section 84 of the present Electoral Act, which allows political parties to choose candidate election methods.
Jonathan made the recommendation during the public launch of a book by former Minister of State Power, Dr Mohammed Wakil, on Thursday in Abuja.
The National Assembly, according to the former president, should provide political parties the authority to do things differently because their needs are different.
"Provide bargaining power to the parties. The fact that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regulates them is critical.
"They mentor them, and the system they'll employ to select candidates must be detailed in their constitution, with copies filed with INEC." That will be the benchmark against which the party will be measured.
"Political parties are not government parastatals, and legislation passed by the National Assembly cannot strangle them." He stated, "That is my perspective on this contentious topic."
Jonathan also rated the ongoing primaries of political parties to elect candidates for the 2023 general elections a low ranking due to the limits of the 2022 Electoral Act.
He said that the primary, which permitted only elected delegates to vote, had already shown to be a flop.
"The National Assembly amended the Electoral Law, allowing only 'chosen delegates' to elect those who will vote." Then Nigerians will believe they are voting a president when they go to the polls one day?
"However, who provided you with presidential candidates?" says the narrator. At the national, state, and municipal levels, as well as in federal and state constituencies, there are very few people."
Because each ward had three elected delegates, Jonathan cited a Bayelsa State Federal Constituency with only two wards and six delegates that elected PDP candidates.
He went on to say that when the delegates were not well-known members of society, the situation was much more troubling.
"We have former governors, deputy governors, senators, and everyone else," says the group. We only have one delegate, though, and you have no idea where he comes from.
"To vote for the presidential candidate, a delegate will travel to Abuja." Is this the type of democracy that we'll have?
"Those of us who have been involved, on the other hand, know how horrible it is. Are we bringing those who truly know who's who to elect these delegates, or are we bringing those who can be bribed?"
Jonathan advised the National Assembly to pass laws that would help solve problems rather than legislation that was irrelevant or intended to aggravate them.
"And, just as judges rely entirely on the scale and the sword, laws must be drafted with the presumption that those enacting them are blind to any potential conflicts of interest.
"Laws should not be enacted to target a certain group or individual.
"And when you enter that system of making laws, you'll make this terrible blunder that will muddle everything up, just like the primaries that are currently taking place."
He remarked, "I believe we should focus on institutionalised democracy and make it a part of our culture."