The United States of America and the United Kingdom insisted on Wednesday that Nigeria must conduct free, fair and credible general elections in April, saying it was only by so doing that the country could show seriousness as a continental leader and preparedness to become a world leader.



To assist in ensuring the smooth conduct of the elections, therefore, both the US and UK said they had jointly earmarked $35m (N5.4bn) to provide vehicles for transporting electoral materials, purchase of machines and other technical aids.



US Under Secretary, Maria Otero, disclosed this in Minna, Niger State, on Wednesday while leading members of the Bi-National Commission to interact with the Niger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, and other stakeholders on achieving free and fair general elections.



Otero said the team had met with the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to appraise the Commission’s arrangement for the polls.



She said the two countries would also conduct widespread sensitisation of voters in the country and educate them on their rights and obligations in the electoral process.



Otero said, “Nigeria is moving forward as it prepares to hold its elections in April. We consider that the Nigerian people are looking forward and enthusiastic about having an open, free and fair and transparent election in which every citizen of the country can participate as the president has said ‘one man one vote.’



“We believe that this election is one opportunity for Nigeria to demonstrate its leadership for the region and to be able to show that it can be, not only a regional leader, but also a global leader. The whole world is watching as Nigeria utilises the means and the ways in which every election at the national and local level is done in an open (manner) and in a way that uses no fraud, uses no violence and create a more democratic way of operating.



“The world is watching not only the national election but also the local election. We know that there are challenges. We know that it is not very easy to be able to move forward with a commitment to a democratic process. But we know that that is an effort that will be very important as Nigeria looks at its future. So, we look to its leadership to be able to make statements that are able to do away with any action that could prevent credible elections from taking place.”



Apart from the fund, the US official disclosed that both the US and UK would also engage electoral experts to assist the Independent National Electoral Commission in all the processes of the election.



Mario who was in company with the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Terrence McCulley, and his Nigerian counterpart, Prof. Ade Adefuleye, said the US placed high priority on the Nigerian elections.



She explained that the Bi-National Commission was established to create opportunities of friendship and partnership in pursuing areas of interests affecting Nigeria and the USA, adding that one of the areas of focus was guaranteeing the conduct of credible elections.



She, however, expressed satisfaction over the outcome of the voter registration exercise conducted by INEC, disclosing that her team had met with the commission’s Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to appraise the arrangement put in place for the elections.



Otero, whose team was also received by all the traditional rulers in the state, including the Etsu of Nupe, Dr. Abubakar Yahaya, acknowledged the challenges facing INEC, but insisted that the electoral process must be devoid of fraud.



Essentially she reiterated that the future of the country depended largely on the forthcoming elections and charged leaders in the country to make statements and undertake actions that would ensure credible elections.



Aliyu in his welcome address said that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum was committed to credible elections in April.



The governor who is also the Chairman of the Northern Governor’s Forum regretted that as a giant of Africa, Nigeria had in many instances “do things differently from what a giant can do”.



He said that he had in one of his dissertations concluded that Nigeria had made more noise than embarking on real actions.



He lamented illiteracy, geographical nature of the state and logistics as part of the challenges besetting local elections.





http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103032415189

The interenational community should forget about free, fair and credible election in Nigeria as the chairman of INEC is already working for PDP as evident in Delta state rerun election that the presidency instructed Prof, Jega to return Dr. Uduaghan of the PDP back to power.Jega this a big shame on you having attain some prominence in your life, better think of your reputation.

I think we all can work towards compiling our own results so we can put Jega's INEC to shame IF they rig.

There is this cool website (www.reclaimnaija.net) that allows for citizen's reporting of electoral happenings. This way, Nigerian citizens can monitor the elections from their own polling zones.

The cool thing is that every citizen in this country can work together towards compiling and monitoring elections

wevote:

I think we all can work towards compiling our own results so we can put Jega's INEC to shame IF they rig.

There is this cool website (www.reclaimnaija.net) that allows for citizen's reporting of electoral happenings. This way, Nigerian citizens can monitor the elections from their own polling zones.

The cool thing is that every citizen in this country can work together towards compiling and monitoring elections

Good idea

I don't understand how free and fair elections are consistent with fake voting #s.

What exactly do they mean? Each state should have free and fair elections, then aggregate everything up after that using the fake voting #s for each state?