EU and World Economic Forum teams meet with Obi as they promise to ensure elections are well monitored

EUROPEAN Union (EU) and World Economic Forum (WEF) officials have met with the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Peter Obi to assure him that they shall be monitoring Nigeria's forthcoming elections to ensure they are free and fair.

In February next year, Nigeria goes to the polls to elect a president, 29 state governors, members of the senate and House of Representatives as well as all the members of the 36 state houses of assemblies. There are already fears that the polls may be ugly as the tension rises between Mr Obi's PDP and President Muhammadu Buhari's ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Yesterday, the EU and WEF officials met with Mr Obi who stood in for the PDP presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as they sought guarantees that the elections would be free and fair. At the meeting, Mr Obi told the delegation that efforts should be made to stop the APC from intimidating candidates of opposition political parties who, he said, now live in fear.

Mr Obi added that the EU should insist on a level playing field for all candidates and parties during the 2019 elections in Nigeria, pointing out that there is a need to get the country back to its feet and make it better for our children. He also said that campaigns should be based on issues so that the electorate and the international community can come to grasp with the problems of the country, as well as the solutions being proffered by each of the political parties and their candidates.

Furthermore, Mr Obi said that there was need for agencies like the EU to strengthen and support the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec). He added that judging from what happened during the gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun states, Inec needs to show that it remains an unbiased umpire in future elections in the country.

Mr Obi added:  “I contested and won elections when I was in a smaller party. Where would I have gotten the money to buy votes if it was the case then and how would I have gotten back the money especially when I am going to serve the people.”

Ketil  Karlsen, the head of the EU delegation, said that the election observer group has been consulting stakeholders in Nigeria to ascertain whether or not it would be necessary for the union to send a new EU election observer mission. He added that the EU mission had been operating in Nigeria since 1999 and that the union had invested over 100m euros in Nigeria’s election processes since then.

Nontle Kabanyane, the leader of the WEF delegation, said that the forum was ready to strengthen relationships and to implement more activities in Nigeria through a collaboration that would lead to national transformation. Mr Obi told him that Nigeria needs to do something immediately for her economy to be put back on track.

He added: “A lot of work needs to be done in Africa because things are tough. The presidential and vice presidential candidates of the PDP have a clear picture of what the economic priorities are  and what the international community feels about the country.”