The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard,
has said that the presidential polls of February 25 failed to meet the
expectations of Nigerians.
The ambassador acknowledged that many are angry and
frustrated with the results, while some others are celebrating victories they
believe were hard-fought and well-earned.
She, however, commended Nigerians for demonstrating their
dedication to democracy.
Leonard, therefore, urged the Independent National Electoral
Commission to promptly address the challenges that can be resolved ahead of the
March 11 gubernatorial elections and to undertake a broader review of the
problems that transpired during the last elections and what can be done to fix
them.
In addition, she urged INEC to share with the Nigerian
public information about the actions it is taking.
She made this known in an op-ed, ‘The Elections of February
25.’
She commended Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar for their
commitment to take the legal path in contesting the presidential elections and
also the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, for acknowledging their right to do so.
The statement partly reads, “The people of Nigeria
demonstrated their dedication to democracy on February 25, but there are many
angry and frustrated Nigerians as well as many who are celebrating victories
they believe were hard-fought and well-earned.
“In the coming days,
it will be important for the future of this country that Nigerians not let
their differences divide them, and that the legally established process for
resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course.”
Leonard also admitted that as much as it can be unsatisfying
to end an electoral process in a courtroom, in a constitutional democracy bound
by the rule of law, that is where electoral conflicts may appropriately
conclude.
She noted that the Nigerian electoral landscape is
‘indisputably’ changing.
With respect to the results from the presidential and
National Assembly polls, she noted that “more than half of the states – 20 –
the winning candidate represented a different party than that of the incumbent
governor. Twelve of these states are led by APC governors.
“For the first time, four presidential candidates won at
least one state, and the top three each won 12 states based on these initial
results.
“In the National Assembly elections, even with results still
incomplete, we already know that changes are afoot: seven sitting governors
lost in their attempts to win election to the Assembly; the Labor Party has won
at least seven seats in the Senate; the NNPP has won at least 11 seats in the
House of Representatives.”
She however assured that as “Nigeria goes through these next
weeks and months, we stand with you.”
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Don't say expectations of Nigerians but the expectations of the opposition.
ReplyDeleteMany bad losers who can not meet constitutional requirements of populous votes and 25% of votes casted in 24 state and FCT
ReplyDeleteMr amirka say the expectation of the serial failures. It has never been as credible as now
ReplyDelete