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US advocates safety at polling centres

The United States has called on security agencies in Nigeria to do everything possible to ensure safety at polling centers and prevent violence during the April general elections.

The US also urged the Nigerian government to exercise “special care’’ in some parts of the country that are prone to crisis, including the Niger Delta, Jos and some parts of the north.

Concerns

In a teleconference with Journalists, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African, Johnnie Carson, said that the US was interested in the outcome of Nigeria’s election

“We are watching very closely, the potential for violence in the run-up to the Nigerian elections. Right now, we have seen regrettably too much of that even though the level of violence in the run-up to the 2011 elections is not as serious as it was in 2007,’’ He said.

He urged the government to exercise special care and caution in the management of elections in the areas prone to crisis to ensure that the violence that is ongoing as a result of those local issues does not impact on the ability of the people to cast votes.

Carson said that the April 2011 elections provided an opportunity for Nigeria to reverse “a trajectory of bad elections,” noting that the elections in Nigeria in 2007 were deeply flawed and in no way reflected the ability and the capacity of Nigeria to organise and run successful elections.

 Appeal

The US assistant secretary urged political parties and government to allow all registered voters to participate in peaceful and transparent elections.

He said that the nation’s political leadership and those who aspire to lead must refrain from engaging in inflammatory rhetoric or acts of intimidation. “Violence has no place in a democratic society or in a democratic electoral process,’’ he stressed.

The US official warned that flawed elections would lead to a loss of confidence by Nigerians in their leaders, government institutions as well as democracy.

Commendation

Carson commended INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, for performing an outstanding job of managing this process and helping to reshape an election commission whose reputation had been deeply tarnished by the leadership.

He urged all election officials to respect Jega's leadership and direction, and stressed that INEC officials at the state level would also be scrutinised for their conduct.

He said that the US and UK governments had provided 30 million dollars to INEC through technical assistance.

The   general elections will begin on Saturday, April 2 with the parliamentary elections; the presidential poll on April 9 and the gubernatorial elections on April 16.

 NAN/Qasim