The Presidency says Nigeria is truly on the path to free and fair elections in 2019.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said Monday that the United Nations’ prediction that 2019 elections in Nigeria would be credible and violence-free was yet another indication of the world’s confidence in President Buhari’s administration.
Speaking a day after a United Nations representative made the prediction in a Channels TV interview, Shehu said: “The Buhari government doesn’t believe in cheap propaganda. It’s not about responding to the attacks, false allegations and insinuations of the PDP or of the still very active media machinery of the previous government.
“We believe in taking active steps to ensure that the future of Nigeria is better than it is today and we are glad to see that the United Nations has acknowledged this. Under the government of President Buhari, a number of credible elections have been conducted in states and local governments across Nigeria and, so far, there has been no cause for fear or worry.”
Shehu said the 2015 elections were credible “simply because of the presence and diligence of Professor Attahiru Jega. At one of its meetings, the Council of State last year put on record the appreciation of the nation for the conduct of the 2015 elections and commended the leadership of Professor Attahiru Jega as Chairman of the Commission for bringing that about.”
“In addition to the steadfastness of the INEC, the ECOWAS, AU, EU, UN and other international bodies also had to be on guard to ensure that there was no opportunity for the kind of foolishness we saw at the INEC collation center from people in the circle of power to flourish.
“But, in 2019, the international community will have nothing to fear, and I am happy that the UN can already sense that several months in advance,” the presidential spokesman stated.
