US Embassy Advises Nigerians Not to Take Their Democracy For Granted
As Nigeria prepares to go into 2023 polls in the next hundred days amidst several calls by Nigerians and the international community for a transparent and violence free election, the political counselor of the United States Embassy in Abuja, Rolf Olson has advised Nigerian politicians to go into the contest with a mindset to win or lose.
According to the Diplomat, whoever that does not have such orientation should not go into politics at all.
He said that Nigeria has made significant improvement in its democratic and electoral journey since 1999 cautioning, however that Nigerians cannot take their democracy for granted.
Rolf Olson made the statement in Abuja on Wednesday in a seminar organized by Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Alumni Association Nigeria with the theme “Promoting Electoral Integrity in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges
The political counselor of US embassy in Abuja while commending the Independent National Electoral Commission for their commitment to electoral integrity through the several technological innovations said the success of any election is strongly dependent on the people.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Director Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement, YIAGA, Samson Itodo said that he was comfortable with the technical competence of the electoral umpire but not its operational competence. According to Itodo, manipulation of INEC voters register, nomination and approval of national electoral officers who have been found to be partisan are a warning that there is a plan to undermine the credibility of 2023 election.
He called on Nigerians to push for the cleaning of the voters register, insist on a credible and accountable electoral process that works for them and ensure that the technologies deployed by INEC are strictly followed by the commission’s field officers on the election day.
The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Voter Registration and Education, Festus Okoye called on Nigerians to give the commission the needed support to see to the conduct of a transparent 2023 general election.
He said the commission has helped the process by the introduction of technology to reduce human interference in the process but the work is not for the umpire alone but the combined effort of Nigerians including civil society and security agencies
Also speaking, the Former FCT Commissioner of Police, Lawrence Alobi tasked the Joint Security Taskforce for 2023 Election to remain apolitical and protect Nigerians from the intimidation of politicians on the election day.
He called on the leadership of various security agencies to train personnel that will be deployed for election especially on the Electoral Act 2022 to know what constitutes electoral offense.
The seminar which was organized by the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Alumni Association brought together civil society organizations, election agencies and the media.
