By-Taiwo Amodu, Abuja
The United States of America has no favoured political party or presidential candidate in the forthcoming general elections in Nigeria.
Molly Phee, the US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Africa Affairs, clarified on Monday at a meeting with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, at the latter office in Abuja.
Phee said the interest of the US was a free, fair and credible Electoral process in Nigeria and commended the INEC for living up to the expectations of Nigerians.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Africa Affairs called on all stakeholders in the democratic process to stick to the rules so that the country could have a seamless transition process for the seventh time.
She said:” The United States wants to encourage a successful election that is free, fair and peaceful in Nigeria. I am happy to say that we have great confidence that you will have a successful election.
“Since 1999 Nigeria has been moving up significantly in its democratic journey and with INEC under the leadership of its chairman and support of his staff, all Nigerians have confidence in the integrity of the upcoming election. “Nigerians should have confidence in their electoral process. We are happy to be here with you today, we are proud of our contributions to helping you meet the challenges of conducting elections in a diverse country.
“I do want to emphasise that every citizen, every stakeholders, every party involved has a responsibility during the elections and after elections to be peaceful . So, it is important to ensure peaceful transfer of power every four years. And finally, I do want to make it clear that the US has no favoured candidate or party.”
In his response, INEC Chairman, Professor Yakubu, restated his position that his Commission’s main focus was the integrity of the electoral process without bias for any of the candidates seeking elective offices.
He also thanked the US for showing more than passing interest in the democratic journey of Nigeria.
” The Commission isn’t a political party , we have no candidate in the election. We only focus on the process and the choice ultimately belongs to the people of Nigeria. We are committed to free, fair, credible, inclusive and I must also add verifiable elections in 2023. The US understandably is interested in Nigeria democracy and Nigeria is also interested in the US democracy. I say this, if US is the largest democracy in the world, which country is second? It is Nigeria. Yes, you have countries like India, Indonesia and other democracies but they run parliamentary democracy, not presidential and with the growth in population of Nigerians, who knows, in the next five years we may overcome the US as the largest prrsidential democracy in the world. So, we are interested in ensuring that we consolidate our democracy because there is no system of government that’s better .”
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