President Muhammadu Buhari has assured the leaders of West African nations that the 2023 elections to be held in February will be free, fair and credible.
naijaonpoint reports that President Buhari said that he is always committed to leaving the legacy of free and fair elections to Nigerians in 2023.
Buhari said this on Tuesday at Government House, Abuja, while playing with the West African Leaders’ Forum on the Pre-Election Mediation Mission, led by former Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma.
In a statement issued by Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Buhari reiterated that the 2023 general election would be free, fair and credible, as manipulation in any form would not be allowed.
“Thank you for agreeing to do this service for our sub-region,” the president told his guests, citing the off-season elections held in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states as an indicator of the fact that the Federal Government would allow people to choose. leaders they want
“That right is guaranteed,” said President Buhari. “We are settling down and progressing. People should vote for whoever they want, in whatever party. We will not allow anyone to use money and thugs to intimidate people. Nigerians know better now, they are wiser and they know that it is better to talk than to bear arms. Elections are even harder to manipulate now.”
Former President Koroma, who led a team consisting of Fatoumata Tambajang, former Vice President of The Gambia, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, and Ann Iyonu, Executive Director of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, said he had met with stakeholders from parties, civil society and the Independent National Electoral Commission, among others, “and we congratulate him for making it clear both locally and internationally that the elections would be free and fair.”
He praised President Buhari for not listening to the voices that may have tried to convince him to seek a third term in office, against the laws of the land, noting that “other countries look to Nigeria for leadership.”
“When we had problems in Sierra Leone and Liberia, it was Nigeria that came in to stabilize the system,” the former president said.
He urged the Nigerian leader to investigate other areas of concern raised by stakeholders, including security and issues that may raise doubts about the clarity and credibility of the elections.”