Apparently in a bid to ensure credible and peaceful elections next year, the United States has called a conference for next month in Washington for stakeholders in Nigeria to meet and discuss.
The conference, which is expected to take place in early April, is being coordinated by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and senior policy makers of the American government are expected to attend.
In a letter written to one of the invitees, who is also a top politician in the country and signed by Richard Downie, Deputy Director and Fellow, Africa Programme at CSIS, exclusively made available to Sunday Independent, those expected at the conference are senior officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), party leaders from both the ruling and opposition parties, Nigerian police and other persons involved in the preparations and conduct of the 2015 elections.
Sunday Independent gathered that participants are expected to discuss the conduct of politicians before, during and after the elections; their views on the processes leading to the elections, preparations put in place; and what they see as potential risk factors and flashpoints issues and locations.
The letter further reads: Our main public event will be a conference on the morning of April 7 in which we would ask you to prepare some remarks on the state of party preparations for the elections.
In particular, our audience will be interested to hear how the APC views its role in contributing to an atmosphere in which free, fair, and peaceful elections can take place; what it expects from its candidates in terms of good conduct around the elections; how it views INEC’s preparations; what it sees as the potential risk factors/flashpoint issues and locations.
“Finally, because the audience will include many U.S. policymakers, what – if anything – the United States can do to support Nigeria as it holds this critical set of elections.
“We would ask that your presentation is fairly brief – approximately 10 minutes long.
“You will have a chance to speak in more detail in the private meetings which follow the conference.
“We intend to have an off the record session with a smaller group of Nigeria experts, a private dinner with senior US policymakers, and a set of meetings on the Tuesday with officials at the Department of State, White House and U.S. Congress”.
Meanwhile, the opposition has been enlisting the support and assistance of the western world in ensuring that the process leading to the all-important election is credible and transparent.
It was gathered that the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been holding series of meetings with European Union ambassadors, including that of the United States and Canada of the need for them to be more involved in the process leading to the election.
Sources said visits by diplomats of these countries to INEC of recent were in line with this understanding between the opposition and the West.
The European Union recently said it was willing to provide electoral observation mission to guarantee transparency of the poll, noting this will create confidence in the body polity.
EU Managing Director for Africa, Dr. Nicholas Westcott, who addressed reporters in Abuja, said the 2015 general elections would be very important to the evolution of the country’s democracy.
According to him, the international community wants the elections to be transparent, honest, open, credible and peaceful.
Westcott said the EU was prepared to help the country build robust democratic institutions.
“The forthcoming elections here in Nigeria will be a very important step in the evolution of Nigeria’s democracy.
“I think all the people of Nigeria and the international community wants these elections to be transparent, honest, and credible and peaceful so that everybody will see they can participate for their vote to be counted and accept the outcome in whatever majority it may be.”
Source: Daily Independent
