{"id":4674,"date":"2015-03-24T08:06:53","date_gmt":"2015-03-24T08:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=4674"},"modified":"2015-03-24T08:06:53","modified_gmt":"2015-03-24T08:06:53","slug":"obama-ecowas-seek-peaceful-polls-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=4674","title":{"rendered":"Obama, ECOWAS seek peaceful polls in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"United<\/a>
United States President, Barack Obama<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

United States President Barack Obama and the the Economic Community of West African States have stressed that only fair and transparent elections will guarantee\u00a0\u00a0 a true democratic process in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Obama made his comment via a video posted on Monday on the White House official website while the ECOWAS Chairman and Ghananian President, John Mahama, spoke in Abuja.<\/p>\n

The US President, who also called for the safe rescue of the more than 200 kidnapped Chibok girls by Boko Haram, reminded Nigerians that \u201csuccessful elections and democratic progress\u201d would help Nigeria meet the challenges it currently faces.<\/p>\n

He therefore urged Nigerians to peacefully express their views on election days and \u201creject the voices of those who call for violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to him, the elections presented to Nigerians,\u00a0\u00a0 the opportunity\u00a0\u00a0 to unite\u00a0\u00a0 in saying no to violence and extremism and instead show their support for a more peaceful, secure and prosperous future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call on all Nigerians to peacefully express your views and to reject the voices of those who call for violence. And when elections are free and fair, it is the responsibility of all citizens to help keep the peace, no matter who wins,\u201d Obama added.<\/p>\n

The US President\u00a0\u00a0 made it clear in the message that it was the duty of all voters to safeguard the democratic process by performing their civic responsibility peacefully.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cToday, I want to speak directly to you\u2014the people of Nigeria. Successful elections and democratic progress will help Nigeria meet the urgent challenges you face today.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoko Haram\u2014a brutal terrorist group that kills innocent men, women and children\u2014must be stopped. Hundreds of kidnapped children deserve to be returned to their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cNigerians who have been forced to flee deserve to return to their homes. Boko Haram wants to destroy Nigeria and all that you have worked to build. By casting your ballot, you can help secure your nation\u2019s progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also urged all Nigerians to put their ethnic and religious backgrounds behind\u00a0\u00a0 ahead of the polls, saying that the task ahead\u00a0\u00a0 required unity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m told that there is a saying in your country: \u2018to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done.\u2019 Today, I urge all Nigerians\u2014from all religions, all ethnic groups, and all regions\u2014to come together and keep Nigeria one. And in this task of advancing the security, prosperity, and human rights of all Nigerians, you will continue to have a friend and partner in the USA,\u201d he added. The US President also had a message to Nigerian leaders, especially the two leading candidates \u2013 President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party and Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress: They must\u00a0\u00a0 caution their supporters\u00a0\u00a0 against violence during and after the March 28 polls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call on all leaders and candidates to make it clear to their supporters that violence has no place in democratic elections\u2014and that they will not incite, support or engage in any kind of violence\u2014before, during, or after the votes are counted,\u201d he advised.<\/p>\n

In Abuja, Mahama and\u00a0\u00a0 the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Desire-Kadre Ouedraogo\u00a0\u00a0 met seperately with Jonathan and the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.<\/p>\n

The ECOWAS chairman told journalists after the meetings\u00a0\u00a0 that they stressed to the two candidates they need for free and fair elections in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Mahama, who also heads\u00a0\u00a0 ECOWAS electoral observer mission to Nigeria said that the sub-regional body had been actively involved in ensuring peaceful and transparent elections in the five countries\u00a0\u00a0 going through elections in West Africa this year.<\/p>\n

He said the observer mission had been monitoring the electoral process in the lead up to the elections not just before the polls but from a longer period.<\/p>\n

Mahama added, \u201cWe have received several monitoring reports and we are working together with the electoral commissions of the countries and the authorities of those countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have tried to ensure that obstacles to free and fair elections are removed to ensure that elections are free and fair. People would accept the results of those elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs chair of the authorities of Heads of State of ECOWAS, I have extended my solidarity to the Nigerian people through my brother President Jonathan, to see that the whole of ECOWAS, not only ECOWAS, but the international community is in solidarity with Nigeria to have a very transparent election so that the democratic process in Nigeria will be better entrenched.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a critical election for Nigeria and it will be one more indication for the world that Nigeria is a democratic country and is ruled by tenets of good governance and rule of law. And so, we want to wish you all the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

He disclosed that the delegation would also meet with the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission to look at the state of preparedness for the elections.<\/p>\n

He expressed the belief that the postponement had given the electoral body more time to be able to meet all its processes and be in readiness to ensure that voters were not disenfranchised and that the results of the elections were accepted.<\/p>\n

The Ghanaian President also expressed the belief that there would be no post-election violence after the release of the results.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect that there will be no post-election violence and that all the parties involved in the elections would accept the results\u00a0\u00a0 in good faith when INEC has announced the results of the elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you know, Nigeria is a very important member of ECOWAS. The largest economy, the largest nation in the ECOWAS region and so Nigeria\u2019s safety and security is the safety of and security of the whole of ECOWAS region and so I stand on behalf of all the Presidents of ECOWAS and wish that all Nigerians will come out and express their votes and their votes would count towards electing who becomes the next leader of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahama also told journalists after meeting with Buhari that the international community was interested in the outcome of the elections because of the strategic position Nigeria occupies on the African continent.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cI arrived here this(Monday) morning as the ECOWAS chairman at the behest of all the Heads of a States of ECOWAS to pay a solidarity visit to Nigeria to express our solidarity with the people of Nigeria in the elections you are going to hold on\u00a0\u00a0 March 28.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole of West Africa and indeed, the whole of the international community is watching your country because these elections are going to be another step at consolidating and enhancing democracy in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

\u201cI began this(Monday) morning with a meeting with President Jonathan and we discussed all issues concerning the intending election and I had firm assurances that everything is set to go and that on the Match 28\u00a0\u00a0 election will come up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect the elections to be free, fair and transparent and ECOWAS is going to do everything possible to work with the political stakeholders and INEC to make sure that the\u00a0\u00a0 process is credible and acceptable to the people of Nigeria.<\/p>\n

\u201c I feel assured that all the political leaders are ready for a peaceful, free and fair election.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, there are a few issues that he(Buhari) has brought up which I will refer appropriately to our monitoring group and I hope that the discussions that will take place in the next few days will address some the issues that have been raised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahama said he received assurances from both Jonathan and the INEC Chairman,\u00a0\u00a0 Attahiru Jega, that all was now set for the elections to go ahead on March 28 as scheduled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

United States President Barack Obama and the the Economic Community of West African States have stressed that only fair and transparent elections will guarantee\u00a0\u00a0 a true democratic process in Nigeria. Obama made his comment via a video posted on Monday on the White House official website while the ECOWAS Chairman and Ghananian President, John Mahama, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Barack-Obama1-360x225.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-1do","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4674"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4676,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4674\/revisions\/4676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}