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President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday assured the Government of Zimbabwe that Nigeria would support all efforts to ensure the conduct of peaceful, transparent and credible elections in the country.
Jonathan gave the assurance at a meeting with Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who was in Abuja to solicit Nigeria’s support for the country’s general elections in 2012.
Jonathan said that Nigeria would support all efforts by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and AU, both guarantors of the global political agreement in Zimbabwe, to achieve credible polls in the country.
“All African countries have a responsibility to ensure that Zimbabwe does not go back to the crisis of the past with the consequent loss of lives.
“Nigeria will support the SADC, which is the regional grouping for Southern Africa, in all efforts for successful elections in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Jonathan said that Africans must show that they can conduct peaceful, transparent and credible elections to create the stable socio-political and economic environment required for investments.
He also said that lessons learnt from Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire should be used in Zimbabwe and other African nations to avoid post-election crises.
The President thanked Tsvangirai for coming personally and for the extensive briefing on preparations for the elections.
Earlier, Tsvangirai said that all efforts were being made under the auspices of the SADC to conduct free and fair elections in 2012.
He updated the President on the efforts being made by his country and the SADC and requested for a more active role by Nigeria in the entire election process.
“Nigeria and AU must be involved actively in support of the SADC initiative and also to ensure that we don’t have a repeat of the Ivorian experience,” he said. (NAN)
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