Linda Thomas-Greenfield, on Monday, urged the Federal
Government to establish an electoral offences tribunal before
the 2015 general elections.
She made the call in Abuja at the opening of the Nigeria-U.S.
Bi-National Commission (BNC) working group's meeting on
good governance, transparency and integrity.
Thomas-Greenfield, who led a 23-man team to the third
meeting of the group, said the U.S. believed
the tribunal would serve as deterrent to election violence.
She said "we stand with the Nigerian people who say loudly
that they will not accept electoral tampering, overly heated
rhetoric, vote selling or buying and violence.
"I have heard my Nigerian friends say, repeatedly, that
anyone who engages in such elections chicanery should be
held accountable and they are right.
"I encourage Nigeria's National Assembly to pass a
legislation that will establish an electoral offences tribunal, a
legislation that President Goodluck Jonathan proposed when
he was Vice President.
"We hope that our continued electoral assistance will give the
utmost support to the Nigerian people because they deserve
nothing less than elections that reflect their will,'' she said.
The U.S. assistant secretary commended the conduct of the
Nigeria police and security operatives at the Nov. 16
gubernatorial elections in Anambra.
She said "we have confidence that if the Nigerian police, the
military and other security services are allowed to do their
jobs professionally as they did in Anambra, elections can be
held safely in Ekiti and Osun this year.
"We also have confidence that come 2015, elections in every
polling unit in the country will be safe.''
She urged Nigerian electorate to hold politicians, INEC, the
media, judiciary and security agencies accountable for free
and fair elections.
She also urged Nigerians to vote according to their conscience
"and anyone who witnesses fraud must peacefully report to
INEC and Nigerian judicial system for resolution as nothing
justifies violence.''
The Assistant Secretary of State, who is visiting Nigeria for
the third time since her appointment last year as President
Barack Obama's lead diplomat for Africa, said the U.S. and
UK are committed to promoting credible elections in Nigeria.
She recalled that in the run-up to Nigeria's 2011 elections, the
U.S. and UK contributed 31.3 million dollars to strengthen
Nigeria's electoral management body and civil society groups.
"We are proud to support the great electoral success you
achieved as a nation and as a people,'' she said.
The U.S. envoy reiterated her government's support to the
forthcoming elections in the country, saying it looked forward
to working with INEC and other stakeholders.
She said the BNC meeting would discuss how to make
Nigeria's 2015 elections "the most peaceful, free, fair and
credible elections in its history."
Thomas-Greenfield said the two-day meeting would also
feature exchange of ideas among officials.
In his remarks, Dr Martin Uhomoibhi, the Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Federal
Government had consistently advocated for peaceful and
credible elections, devoid of violence.
He said "in our history as a nation, we have never seen a
leader so transparently committed to ensuring a free, credible
and fair election as our president.
"The confidence that he reposes on INEC bears eloquent
testimony to this conviction and commitment.
"In his May 29 address when he took on the mantle of
leadership as president, the president said and I will
paraphrase him: "For Africa, the age of liberation and struggle
is over.
"What is important to us at the moment is to ensure the
entrenchment of sustainable democracy.''
Uhomoibhi said Nigeria would continue to play a leading role
in the consolidation of democracy on the continent, citing
interventions in Guinea Bissau, Mali and Cote d'Ivoire.
On terrorism, the permanent secretary recalled the contents of
Nigeria's partnership with the U.S. government in fighting
terrorism.
He added that "terrorism is evil; it has no religion, no
nationality, race, ideology or definition, the only definition we
know of terrorism is plain and simple: evil.
"Nigeria is committed to the war against terror, Nigeria will
win that fight because Nigerians are peace loving people and
have fought for peace since 1960 when we became a nation,''
he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a 68-man
delegation from Nigeria, led by Uhomoibhi is participating in
the two-day BNC meeting.
The Nigerian participants are drawn from government, media
and civil society groups.
A communiqué is expected at the end of the meeting.
The BNC was established in 2010 to address a range of shared
concerns by both countries, including regional cooperation,
security and counter -terrorism, Niger Delta, energy and
investment.
It also has a working group dedicated to agriculture and trade
policy.
Via: NAN
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