ECOWAS commission President expresses confidence of credible election in Nigeria 

The President of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) Commission, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, has expressed optimism that the Nigerian elections will be peaceful, credible and will reflect the will of the people.

 

While stressing the importance of democracy, Dr. Touray said “democracy in Nigeria means democracy for the region, it means democracy for the continent.”

 

He explained that due to the importance of the Nigerian election, ECOWAS deployed 250 observers to the country.

 

Addressing the ECOWAS election observers in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, Touray said, “Recently, I think I’ve been asked one question all over the world. And that question relates to my sense of the forthcoming elections in Nigeria. I was in the U.S and the question that invariably came up was, how did I feel? Or what is my sense of the direction of elections in Nigeria and I had only one answer. 

 

“And that answer is we are going to have good elections in Nigeria that will reflect the will of the people. 

 

“This is the largest economy, this is the largest country. So what goes on here affects all of us, wherever we are. 

 

“So democracy in Nigeria means democracy for the sub- region, it means democracy for the continent. So this is why ECOWAS attaches a lot of importance to these elections. 

 

“And it accounts for the fact that we have deployed the largest mission in recent years with 250 observers and with a budget that is quite significant.”

 

He also reminded the observers deployed of the enormous responsibilities placed on them.

 

“You see a number of regions and entities have deployed observers, but most of them would depend very much on what ECOWAS says. So you should all appreciate the importance of the weight of the responsibility that you carry.

 

“Your mission is very important. Not only to ECOWAS, but to the entire world. So what you say will determine the position of other observers.

 

“You will not be carried away by fake news by disinformation and misinformation which to us in ECOWAS constitute a source of instability. 

 

“And when we are looking at drivers of insecurity in West Africa or in Africa as a whole, fake news is considered one of those drivers. So let us be mindful and work as much as we can against fake news and ensure that fake news does not take over the narrative. 

 

On his part, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Dr. Abdel Fatah Musah, said democracy in Nigeria means stability of the region.

 

He said, “Democracy in Nigeria will eventually translate into security and democracy in our whole region, Nigeria is also by far the ultimate engine of growth for our sub-region and you know, also for the continent of Africa being the largest economy on the continent… We hope that we will live up to that expectation to make sure that we accompany our brothers, sisters, the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to go through this electoral process so that it will be credible, transparent, peaceful, most importantly and that we are going to have a very peaceful transition in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is also so important for transitions in the region.” 

 

He said for proper coordination, ECOWAS has come up with two centres that is in Lagos state for the South and Abuja for the North.