SAN FRANCISCO, March 19, (THEWILL) – The United Nations (UN) has expressed concern over the possibility of violence during and after the rescheduled general elections in the country, warning all stakeholders to eschew violence.
The UN Under-Secretary-General on Political Affairs, Jerry Feltman, expressed the fear when he visited the Situation Room Secretariat on Tuesday where he met with leaders of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room).
He was accompanied on the visit by the UN Resident Representative in Nigeria, Daouda Toure and the Special Representative of the UN on West Africa (UNOWA), Mohammed Ibn Chambas.
Feltman said he was in the country to meet with stakeholders in Nigeria especially on the general elections scheduled for 28th March and 11th April 2015. He stated that the elections were of great international significance. Feltman said he would be meeting with officials of INEC, security chiefs, the police, political parties and government officials.
He also said that the UN was concerned about the possibility of violence before, during and after the elections and that he will be urging all stakeholders to avoid electoral violence stating that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has the full support of the Secretary General.
Speaking on behalf of the Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo, Executive Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) , said that CSOs in Nigeria are holding the Nigerian government accountable to its commitment to support INEC to conduct the elections on March 28 and April 11 2015.
He said that the country could not afford the fall out and constitutional crisis that would be created by a failure to conduct elections on the set dates.
Other Situation Room members present at the meeting include: Cynthia Mbamalu of YIAGA, Esther Uzoma of Proactive Gender Initiative and Agianpe Ashang of PLAC/Situation Room Secretariat. They all spoke on the work civil society is doing to promote civic awareness and mitigate violence.
