British high commissioner to Nigeria says he will be monitoring forthcoming governorship elections

BRITAIN'S high commissioner to Nigeria Richard Montgomery has revealed that his government will be closely monitoring the forthcoming gubernatorial elections taking please in three states next month.

On November 11, off-cycle governorship elections will take place in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi states and Britain is keen to ensure they are free and fair. Mr Montgomery raised concerns about the numerous post-election cases at both the state and federal levels, saying it was important for the diplomatic mission to understand how the processes are playing out.

He raised these concerns when he led a delegation to the headquarters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja, where he was received by the national chairman of the party Dr Abdullahi Ganduje. Mr Montgomery, who admitted to having visited leading opposition parties before coming to the APC secretariat, called for fair play and a level playing field for the candidates contesting.

He said: “As explained in our private meeting earlier, I, as British high commissioner, have a role to understand the politics of this great country and to engage with the political parties to understand both the priorities, challenges and opportunities of the political process in Nigeria, so that I can explain it to my ministers back in London. I also need to understand your perspectives on a number of issues.

“As I am doing here, we met other members of the political leadership of different political parties across the country. Obviously, there are topical concerns that we have touched on like the gubernatorial elections, the runoff by-elections in Imo, Bayelsa and in Kogi that we wish to understand and are watching carefully to see the process and the way it is carried out.

Welcoming the British delegation, Dr Ganduje said:“We are so pleased to have you given the relationship and long history between Britain and Nigeria. You were our former colonial masters, we got our independence from you and you know our country, even though things are dynamic.

“We started with a political system similar to your own because we borrowed from you and after independence, you assisted us to form political parties as well as to conduct elections during that time. However, along the line, our political system changed from prime minister to presidential system, so that is where the differences are."

Meanwhile, Nigeria's chief of defence staff, General Christopher Musa, announced that the military was prepared for the off-cycle polls in the three states. He warned that any act of violence would not be condoned before, during and after the elections.