Commonwealth Upbeat About Free, Fair, Peaceful Elections

The Commonwealth of Nations has expressed optimism that Nigeria’s political gladiators, institutions and the entire citizens have shown readiness to conduct themselves in the best way to ensure a peaceful, free and fair generation elections scheduled for February 25 and March 11, 2023.

The secretary-general of Commonwealth, Mrs. Patricia Scotland expressed this hope when she led a delegation of Commonwealth election observer mission to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, in Abuja on Wednesday, even as she applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment to peaceful and transparent polls.

She said, “Nigeria has had a difficult journey but what they have done is that they have inspired the rest of the world by their fortitude and determination. And I encourage them to stay on that pathway to peace. I am very conscious that there are those who may like to mislead us, try to seduce us to believe that violence is the way forward but Nigerians have always resisted violence. And I hope and pray that they will resist it again now.”

The Commonwealth boss added, “We know that more than 93 million Nigerians have registered to vote, more than 70 million of those registered are under the age of 35 and about 46 percent of those who have registered are women. So, their hopes and aspirations are there. I will encourage every single individual to make the pledge that their leaders have made.

“They have pledged peace, equity transparency and adherence to the rule of law and I hope that every citizen will make their own pledge to peace. So that Nigeria can remain the beacon of hope and tranquility to many.”

She noted that Nigeria is the biggest country in Africa, adding that what Nigeria does in terms of aspirations and inspiration feeds the whole of the continent and the Commonwealth.

“We are waiting to applaud and celebrate the next peaceful transition of power from the hands of the incumbent current president to the next individual who will have the burden of looking after this magnificent country for the next few years and I just pledged that I will do anything that I can lawfully to support this wonderful and brilliant country to make sure that all their dreams come true,” she said.

Welcoming the delegation in his earlier remarks, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, said that Nigeria appreciates the role of the Commonwealth in supporting democracy in Africa and other countries of the world.

 He said “You are here with your delegation to observe this election and as you know that president Buhari is totally committed to democracy, not only in Nigeria but in the ECOWAS region and indeed in Africa. He is absolutely determined that this should be one of his great legacies to be able to hand over to a successor in the framework of peaceful and transparent elections.”