UK, US Officials Say Attacks On INEC Offices A Threat To Peaceful 2023 Polls

Attacks and destruction of the Independent National Electoral Commission facilities could portend grave danger to the 2023 elections in Nigeria.

These concerns were expressed by officials of the United Kingdom and the United States at separate fora on Monday.

The UK Development Director, Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, Chris Pycroft, said the survival of democracy in Nigeria is critical to Africa and the world at large.

Pycroft spoke at the Northern Peace Conference on the 2023 General Elections in Abuja organised by the 2Baba Foundation in partnership with the J-Dev Foundation and the Child Protection and Peer Learning Initiative

Pycroft spoke and US Consul General, Mr. Will Stevens, said this at separate fora on Monday against the backdrop of the multiple attacks on INEC offices and violent rivalry among political parties in the country.

Themed, ‘Vote Not Fight: Election No Be War,’ the conference was attended by INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, Northern Elders Forum’s spokesman, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, former Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, among others.

Pycrof said fears over the forthcoming election have heightened in Nigeria over the past few years even as he called on all stakeholders, particularly politicians to commit to peaceful conduct before, during and after the elections.

He said, “As we approach the polls next year, attacks on INEC facilities and personnel, violent clashes between opposing members of political parties or broader security challenges are all factors that threaten the peaceful and inclusive and successful execution of the elections.

“The largest democracy in Africa occupies a critical place in efforts to consolidate democracy elsewhere across the world. Credible, useful elections will deepen citizens’ trust and reinforce the foundations for democratic consolidation in Nigeria.”

He said the UK government will support Nigeria both in ensuring the smooth conduct of the elections and in sustaining her democracy.

Speaking in the same tone at an open session of election reporting workshop for journalists, organised by West Africa Broadcast & Media Academy in Ibadan on Monday, the US Consul General, Will Stevens, said America is interested in seeing a free and fair conduct of the 2023 election in Nigeria.

Stevens said, “We really want to see a credible, transparent, peaceful election. That above all, represents the will for the Nigerian people in our programmes and our funding our ballot process, and encouraging people to vote. So people participate in a democracy. They feel like they have a stake in that democracy.

The US has emphasised on credible and peaceful polls for the 2023 elections, saying the polls must reflect the will of the people

‘’When they vote, when they read your reporting, they feel like they’re part of the project of Nigeria, just like the project of the United States. So I’ll leave you with the words of one of my heroes, American investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett, who said, ‘’the smarter the journalists are, the better off society is.”

It would be recalled that INEC offices in Ogun and Osun states were torched by unknown persons.

The electoral body had also said that about 41 attacks had been carried out against its offices in 14 states between February 2019 and May 2021.