West African coalition advises Nigerians, INEC, politicians

The West African Democratic Solidarity Network (WADEMOS) wishes all Nigerians a trouble-free and peaceful election when the country goes to the polls on February 25, 2023, to elect a new president and members of the Federal House of Assembly (National Assembly), and on March 11 2023, to elect the governor and representative of the State Council.

The WADEMOS network also wishes all the contestants participating in the national and sub-national elections, which will be the seventh consecutive elections since the country returned to multi-party democracy in 1999.

As a Network, we recognize the guarantee of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies on their readiness to oversee a peaceful, fair and credible general election. WADEMOS urged Nigerians to come out in numbers on Election Day to exercise their franchise and civic responsibility. We also call on INEC, political parties, and all stakeholders to respect the framework, rules, and regulations governing the election and use the appropriate legal process and institutional mechanisms to address their grievances.

“We encourage citizens and political parties to refrain from using inflammatory language and hate speech, which can lead to violence during elections. INEC and civil society organizations (CSOs) should also improve communication protocols and structures to provide timely information to counter fake news and information that went wrong during and after the election,” said Kojo Pumpuni Asante, head of the WADEMOS election observation mission.

The WADEMOS network commends the efforts of civil society, especially Nigerian member organizations – CDD-West Africa, Africa YIAGA, Women’s Political Forum and Transition Monitoring Group – which have deployed several innovative observation platforms to monitor credibility and action. from the election.

The network deeply regrets and condemns the death of senatorial candidate Oyibo Chukwu and five other supporters of the Labor Party in Enugu State. We urge the security agencies to demonstrate their responsiveness to the attack and arrest the perpetrators to prevent all unscrupulous elements from seeking violence during this election.

Being integral to maintaining political and economic stability in West Africa, WADEMOS recognizes the importance of this election as a pacesetter for the upcoming presidential elections in the sub-region this year. Considering the poor political environment facing the region, Nigeria’s election should revive the hope of democracy in the sub-region.

About WADEMOS

The West African Democratic Solidarity Network (“WADEMOS”) is a non-partisan civil society-led transnational democratic solidarity network, made up of more than thirty-five (35) civil society organizations located in 15 countries in West Africa. The purpose of the WADEMOS Network is to mobilize, coordinate, and use the collective power of civil society and other pro-democracy actors, resources, and opportunities in the West African Region to advance, defend, and revitalize democracy and promote democratic norms and reforms. in the sub-region.