Linus Aleke, Abuja

The West Africa Elders Forum (WAEF), Election Observation Mission to Nigeria, 2023, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to live up to its responsibility of delivering free, fair, and credible elections, under the nation’s laws.

WAEF, also tasked, political parties, candidates, and their supporters to remain calm and peaceful while awaiting the outcome of the electoral process.

This is contained in the interim report of West Africa Elders Forum (WAEF), Election Observation Mission, led by former Ghanaian president, Mr John Mahama, which has been in the country since last week, and witnessed Election Day proceedings on February 25, 2023, and has continued to observe the unfolding developments, since the collation process began.

Other members of the Mission, include former Beninoise President Boni Yayi, former Nigerian President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, former Vice President of The Gambia, Fatoumata Jallo Tambajang, former Burkinabe Prime Minister and President of the Economic Community of West African State, Kadre Ouedraogo, and former Deputy Chair of the African Union, Dr. Erastus Mwencha.

In a statement, the group said, that as former leaders who are committed to peace and stability in ECOWAS

sub-region, “we have begun a round of consultations with some of the presidential candidates and other key stakeholders, taking to them our message of hope, understanding, and peace”.

The group of former leaders said: “So far, WAEF has held meetings with some of the presidential candidates including the Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, and the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in Abuja.

Buhari seeks senate confirmation for NHRC boss’ reappointment

This afternoon we also held consultations with the All Progressives Congress Presidential candidate Senator Bola Tinubu and the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, in an expanded meeting that included the Heads of Missions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU), Ernest Bai Koroma and Uhuru Kenyatta, respectively, as well as the President of the ECOWAS Commission,  Dr. Omar Alieu Touray.

We have continued, in all of these meetings, to urge the candidates and their supporters to maintain peace and use all available legitimate means to sort out their concerns and grievances. We hope to sustain this Mission until the electoral processes are successfully concluded”.

The elder statesmen called on all stakeholders in the Nigerian political ecosystem to be circumspect in their actions and responsibilities, during this moment in order not to jeopardize the collective stability and peace of the nation.

Earlier, the group applauded Nigerians for the resilience and patriotism displayed during the Presidential and National Assembly election which was held on February 25, 2023.

According to the report, “In December 2022, we deployed a pre-election mediation mission led by former Sierra Leonean President, Mr Ernest Bai Koroma to interface with key stakeholders. The Mission noted how Nigerians across the country demonstrated faith and patriotism in their country, defying many challenges to perform their civic duties.

“While the elections were peaceful in several places, challenges of delay in the arrival of electoral materials, voter suppression, ballot box vandalisation and incidents of violence in some states, created anxiety among citizens who were passionate to cast their ballots”.

The group commended Nigerians for the calmness, patience, and maturity they have continued to exhibit as they wait for the collation process to be concluded.

“The Mission notes that some political parties and concerned citizens have raised procedural questions and allegations of infractions of the electoral law in the process of collation of results. We call on all aggrieved parties to document and present their claims to INEC, following the Electoral Act 2022.

“The Mission notes the imperative of retaining the confidence of Nigerians in the ongoing electoral process and, therefore, urges the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to thoroughly investigate those concerns and comply with the electoral law and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in the process of collating the election results,” the former leaders said.

The former leaders reiterated that Nigeria is a major stakeholder in the sustainability of democracy in West Africa and the responsibility of maintaining the nation’s thriving democracy and that the general peace of our sub-region rests on all our shoulders, especially on the integrity of INEC and other election management bodies in West Africa, during elections.