By Olanrewaju Ajao The United Nations has commended Nigerian leaders and followers on the peaceful manner they handled the recent shift in the dates of the 2015 elections.
A special representative from the office of the UN Secretary General, Mohammed Ibn Chambas told State House Correspondents after meeting President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday that UN was glad that despite the tension that greeted the issue of postponement, Nigeria across all political divides took the matter with calmness.
Chambas said it’s the wish of the UN that Nigerians continue to keep the electoral process peaceful, clean and transparent so that the whole country will accept the election results and move on in peace.
“On Friday the Secretary General had a telephone conversation with Mr. President, in fact a day before he had spoken to Mr. Buhari, of course it was about that time it was sensed about the possible postponement of the elections in this country.
We have seen that the postponement has been accepted by all the political parties and stakeholders. The reasons adduced are known now. Of course in some states it’s clear that very few people relatively have been able to collect their PVCs. The extension provides an opportunity for many more Nigerians to collect these cards and be able to exercise their franchise.
But above all, the Secretary General told me to commend Mr. President and other leaders of the political parties and Nigerians as a whole for the maturity that have been demonstrated so far in this whole preparation towards the general elections which are now scheduled to hold later in March.
We saw first of all the primaries, there were a lot of speculations about how they will go but they were conducted in a very calm and peaceful manner. The campaigns started and again, Nigerians have demonstrated a lot of maturity in the general manner in which the campaigns have taken place.
Naturally in periods such as this, there will be heightened tension, heightened rhetoric but on the whole we have very little violence associated with this process. And this is the same also with the postponement, where there were a lot of speculations about what will happen but so far this process has been proceeding in a calm, peaceful and credible manner.
This is the wish certainly of the UN but also many friends of Nigeria. It is our expectations that all will continue to exercise restraint and keep this process clean. And that at the end of the day Nigerians will all accept the outcome of the vote of the people,” the UN chief said.
He also reiterated the support and solidarity of the UN to Nigeria in her ongoing battle again Boko Haram insurgents, emphasizing the intention of the Organization to intervene in the area of humanitarian support for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
He continued: “The other issue that remains a source of concern is the activities of Boko Haram terrorists in the north east of Nigeria and also in neighboring countries. The UN stands firmly behind Nigeria in its legitimate fight against boko haram terrorists. Mr. President has the assurance of the Secretary General for the recent initiative whereby the Lake Chad Basin Commission, will be the platform to anchor the multinational task force which is being put in place.
There will be a support of the United Nation through the department of peacekeeping to ensure that the concept of operations and planning and other activities to ensure a truly joint operational force with a clear commanding control and unity of purpose among the different countries contributing troops that they all work as one and get their efforts towards degrading and eliminating Boko Haram. And in this you can count on the strong support of the United Nations.
Finally, the Secretary General wishes to assure that in the area of humanitarian support with the displaced persons in Nigeria, we will continue to work with Nigerian authorities. The President has assured that full material and logistical support would be provided to NEMA, the UN systems and other partners would work with NEMA and we hope that through our joint efforts, we will be able to bring some amelioration to the lives of the people who have been internally displaced as a result of the barbaric and cruel action of Boko Haram. “
