The United States, Australia, Japan, Norway, Canada, and the United Kingdom Diplomatic Missions in Nigeria have urged officials, including law enforcement, to ensure a safe and conducive environment ahead of the general elections.
The Diplomatic Missions issued the call in a statement on Thursday, urging law enforcement officials to remain neutral and respond to any election-related incidents in a proportionate manner.
“We call on parties to respect electoral laws and institutions and take a firm stand against violence and hate speech by their supporters. We ask the security services in Nigeria to do their utmost to protect that process and prevent and deter attacks against INEC facilities, materials, and personnel,” they said.
While welcoming the signing of the second Peace Accord by presidential candidates from competing parties, the Diplomatic Missions stated that they are fully committed to supporting all efforts to ensure that the Nigerian people decide who wins the election.
They stated that it is critical for Nigeria’s stability and democratic consolidation that the process be carried out and concluded in a safe, fair, and credible manner.
The Missions also urged all actors to intervene proactively to defuse tensions and prevent violence in the run-up to, during, and after the elections.
They strongly condemned actions that undermined the peaceful and transparent conduct of the electoral process, calling on all officials at the federal and local levels in Nigeria to respect the human and democratic rights of its citizens.
The Diplomatic Missions also urged all presidential candidates and political parties to honor their commitments under the second Peace Accord by accepting the election results as announced by INEC and challenging them through the appropriate legal channels.
See the full statement below:
A joint-statement from the Diplomatic missions of The United Kingdom, Australia, The United States, Japan, Canada and Norway on the upcoming General Elections in Nigeria, on 25 February, 2023.
The Diplomatic Missions of the United States, Australia, Japan, Norway, Canada and the United Kingdom in Nigeria welcome the signing of the second Peace Accord by the candidate parties competing in the upcoming Presidential Election of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and fully commit to supporting all efforts that will ensure the Nigerian people decide who wins the election.
We believe it is vital for Nigeria’s stability and democratic consolidation that the process is conducted and concluded safely, fairly and credibly. We encourage all actors to intervene proactively to calm any tensions and avoid any violence in the periods before, during and after the elections.
We call on all officials at federal and local levels in Nigeria to respect the human and democratic rights of its citizens. We strongly condemn any actions that undermine the peaceful and transparent conduct of the electoral process.
We call on parties to respect electoral laws and institutions and take a firm stand against violence and hate speech by their supporters. We ask the security services in Nigeria to do their utmost to protect that process and prevent and deter attacks against INEC facilities, materials and personnel.
We call on all officials, including the law enforcement authorities, to ensure a safe and conducive environment for the exercise of public freedoms – including the freedom of opinion and expression, the freedom of peaceful assembly and the freedom of association – all of which are essential in democratic societies, in particular in the context of elections. Law enforcement authorities should remain visibly neutral and respond in a proportionate manner to any election-related incidents.
We further urge all presidential candidates and political parties to live up to their commitments under the second Peace Accord to accept the results of the election as announced by INEC and to pursue any challenge of the results through the appropriate legal channels.
Finally, we the Diplomatic Missions of the United States, Australia, Japan, Norway, Canada and the United Kingdom in Nigeria would like to congratulate Nigeria on its 24 years of democratic progress since 1999, during which it has been a symbol to others of the value of exercising democratic rights for the betterment of society. We hope that this year’s elections further build Nigeria’s democratic tradition.
