West Africa Elders Forum Asks Presidential Candidates To Uphold Peace

The West Africa Elders Forum (WAEF) has urged the presidential candidates and their supporters in Saturday’s general elections to uphold peace.

This was said in a statement released on Tuesday in Abuja by former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, former Ghanaian President John Mahama, and other members of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) Election Mission to Nigeria.

They urged restraint while praising Nigerians for their tenacity and patriotism during the February 25, 2023, presidential and national assembly elections.

The statement reads: “The West Africa Elders Forum (WAEF) Election Mission to Nigeria, 2023, wishes to commend Nigerians for the resilience and patriotism displayed during the Presidential and National Assembly election which was held on Saturday, February 25, 2023.

“This afternoon we also held consultations with the All Progressives Congress Presidential candidate Senator Bola Tinubu and the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, in an expanded meeting that included the Heads of Missions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU), His Excellency Ernest Bai Koroma and His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, respectively, as well as the President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Dr Omar Alieu Touray.

“We have continued, in all of these meetings, to urge the candidates and their supporters to maintain peace and use all available legitimate means to sort out their concerns and grievances. We hope to sustain this Mission until the electoral processes are successfully concluded.

“We, therefore, urge everyone to be circumspect in their actions and responsibilities, during this moment in order not to jeopardize the collective stability and peace of the nation.”

The vice presidential candidates for the LP and PDP, Datti Baba-Ahmed and Ifeanyi Okowa, requested INEC to call off the general election earlier on Tuesday.

They accused INEC of breaking the law by failing to submit the election results to its online portal during a media briefing held in Abuja.

They called the elections “a sham” and said they weren’t “free or fair.”

Speaking on behalf of both parties, Okowa said: “Results were not transmitted from the polling units — non-compliance with the mandatory statutory requirement.

“We call on the commission to tread on the part of honour and commence the process of a fresh election that will not only be credible but will be seen to be credible by Nigerians.”

The development came shortly after the PDP and LP demanded that Mahmood Yakubu, the head of INEC, step down and ordered the electoral body to cancel the elections.