*** Says Washington has no preferred candidate
By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
With 19 days to the much-awaited 2023 Presidential and National Assembly (NASS) elections, the United States (US) Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard has urged Nigerians to troop out on election days to vote for credible and competent candidates who they can hold accountable.
She also revealed that as a matter of policy, Washington do not have a preferred candidate amongst the 18 presidential candidates vying for the plum job of the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, pointing out that the United States is only interested in the processes that will lead to free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.
Speaking on a live programme on Abuja-based private radio station monitored by Prompt News on Monday, Ambassador Leonard said that her country is so far satisfied with the processes leading to the 2023 general election in Nigeria, adding that they will continue to monitor events as they unfold.
She said Washington is favourably disposed to supporting growing democracies including Nigeria through aids provided by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) of which Nigeria has received a chunk running into billions of naira.
She therefore advised eligible voters to come out enmass to vote for credible and competent candidates who they believe will serve them better, stressing that US government has no interest on who the Nigerian voters choose to be their leader.
Asked why US State Department did not put faces in the recent announcement of people banned from assessing US Visa for their alleged clandestine activities to undermine democracy in Nigeria, Ambassador Leonard said that Visa ban is one of the effective weapons the US use to deal with anti-democratic elements.
On how the US monitors the funds USAID granted to countries and agencies, the former US Representative to the African Union,
said there are checks and balance, arguing that the Mission is satisfied with the performance of the agencies and Civil Society Organisations (CSO) that received aids.
Leonard previously served as the United States Ambassador to Mali from 2011 to 2014. She has also served overseas as an Economic and Consular Officer in Yaoundé, Cameroon; Windhoek, Namibia; and Lomé, Togo.
