The Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State of the Economic Community of West African States, and Ghanaian President, John Draman Mahama, on Monday met with President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the upcoming general election.
Mahama was also billed to meet with the presidential candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari, and the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, ahead of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.
The ECOWAS chairman spoke with State House correspondents after the closed-doors meeting with President Jonathan at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.
Mahama expressed the need for Nigeria to get the elections right, calling on politicians to embrace violence-free polls.
According to him, Nigeria is very important to the ECOWAS region, noting that the country’s security will guarantee safety and security in the sub-region.
His words: “As you know, Nigeria is a very important member of ECOWAS.
“The largest economy, the largest nation in the ECOWAS region and so Nigeria’s 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.
“As you are aware, our sub-region this year has five countries that are going through elections and ECOWAS has been involved in ensuring that these elections are held in a peaceful and transparent environment.
“As 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.
“This is a critical election for Nigeria and it will be one more indication for the world that Nigeria is a democratic country and ruled by tenets of good governance and rule of law.
“And so, we want to wish you all the best.
“We are meeting with the INEC to look at the state of preparedness and we believe that following the postponement of the election, from the 14th of February to the 28th of March, has given the INEC much more time to be able to meet all its processes and be in readiness to ensure that voters are not disenfranchised and that the results of the elections are accepted.
“We expect that there will be no post election violence and that all the parties involved in the election would accept the results of the election in good faith when INEC has announced the results of the elections.
“ECOWAS would continue to monitor the situation and would do everything possible to stand in solidarity with Nigerian people to ensure that this election passes on successfully and Nigeria continues in the role that it plays in our sub-regional bodies.”
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