Elections: US statement capable of casting unwarranted cloud over process --- Buhari
*President Muhammadu Buhari
(Nigeria) President Muhammadu Buhari and presidential candidate
of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the February 16 election, has faulted
the United States of America, US, comment on Nigeria’s election, saying it was
capable of casting an unwarranted cloud over the process.
Speaking through Mr Festus Kayamo, SAN, Director, Strategic Communications, APC
Presidential Campaign Council, in a statement on Monday, he said “We are deeply
concerned about many of the expressions of the United States’ Ambassador to
Nigeria, Ambassador W. Stuart Symington and other Western Diplomats which have
been directed towards Nigeria’s upcoming elections.
“Whilst we laud and whole-heartedly welcome their interests
in the elections, many of these expressions have been notably off- key. The
continued warnings about ‘flawed elections’ is capable of casting an
unwarranted cloud over the process. Instead of encouraging our country toward
credible elections, such statements undermine public confidence. It would
appear that these envoys seem to have discredited the election before it has
even taken place.
“We truly hope some
of the statements attributed to these diplomats are inaccurate. For instance,
the Premium News reported that Ambassador W. Stuart Symington threatened to
“hold to account” anyone whose speech, no matter the motivation of that speech,
engendered hatred. We all agree that any speech willfully intended to trigger
violence is condemnable. However, in condemning other forms of political
speech, the American envoy overstepped his ambassadorial brief.
“For instance, the American Ambassador was reported to have
condemned a situation where a candidate says that his opponent’s political and
economic policies are abhorrent and dangerous to the greater welfare of the
people and calls on the citizens to hate and reject such policies. In our view,
this is a correct statement because it is the duty of the candidate to tell the
people these truths to protect the nation from subsequent calamity. But
Ambassador Symington says his country would punish such necessary political
speeches.
“For us it is significant to note that such strong political
speeches are not unlawful in the United States, but Ambassador Symington is
seeking to penalize such speeches by Nigerians. He seeks to shrink our ambit of
free speech so that we may behave in accordance with their vision of
well-behaved Africans, rather than in consonance with our vision of our own
democracy, no matter how tumultuous and dramatic we may be. It would appear
that his position seeks to prohibit forms of expression integral to our
political discourse. These forms of expression have time and time again been
adjudged to be constitutionally-protected speeches by the United States Supreme
Court.
“However, Ambassador Symington intentionally issued his
threats to place a chilling effect on speeches in Nigeria that, if uttered in
America, would be constitutionally protected. Unfounded allegations and threats
to penalize people for constitutionally-protected free speech is improper
interference in our internal affairs. Sadly, what Ambassador Symington and some
other western diplomats are doing border on the improper.
“We take the view that the constant statements by Ambassador
Symington and the other diplomats are implicit attacks against the government
of Nigeria. These statements imply the Nigerian government is inclined to rig
the election in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari. This is unfair and
unacceptable to us. President Buhari has never been accused of electoral
malpractice all his life. However, in contrast, former Vice President, Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar publicly boasted a few months ago that he rigged the 2003
election in the South West States. Here, we have an open confession of blatant
electoral malfeasance by the PDP candidate. But in all of these, there seem to
be no concern by Ambassador Symington and other diplomats about this
well-acknowledged proclivity of the main opposition.
“We expected that such open confession to rigging in the
past would have drawn condemnation from the United States. Rather what we
witnessed recently was the ignoble act of giving such a self-confessed rigger
with a decade-old indictment in America for corruption hanging over his head a
special status to enter the U.S for a few days. Such is the double standard
that America now displays for the whole world to see.
“It is unfortunate that most of these countries that
sermonize about free and fair elections have ugly histories of denial of voting
right to people because of their colour and are still facing many challenges
with their electoral systems till date.
“The continued
reference and praise of the 2015 election by Ambassador Symington clearly shows
he needs further briefing about the Nigerian situation. For his information,
the 2015 presidential election, at the end of the day, produced the correct
outcome, but with flawed figures in many areas. Though they lost, the figures
attributed to the PDP were inflated in many places, especially in the South
South, to save the face of the past President and to reduce the margin of his
defeat. President Buhari is determined to improve on the 2015 elections and so
it cannot even be our benchmark.
“An American
ambassador has a great responsibility in representing the strongest economic
and military power in the world. His comments carry weight because of the
status of his nation. This means his comments should reflect a deep knowledge
of the subject. Sadly, Ambassador Symington has not shown the deep knowledge of
Nigerian situation. The impression he creates by constantly harping on
suspected government interference with the electoral process is that President
Buhari cannot win without tipping the results. He seems to be saying that only
a PDP victory will be evidence of a fair election.
“Again, he is in great error. From all of the information at
our disposal, President Buhari can and should win a free and fair election. However,
it appears to us that Ambassador Symington is substituting his subjective
conclusions for the sovereign will of the Nigerian people. In doing so, he has abandoned the
impartiality of a true envoy and has trespassed into interfering in our
electoral process.
“Instead of encouraging free and fair elections, these
judgmental statements and threats only cast an unnecessary pall over the
elections and the nation. This is an international disservice and not
international diplomacy. The days of unquestioned condescension to Western
powers are long gone and we are not prepared at this time in Nigeria to recede
to that era.
“Nigerians will define Nigeria’s democracy. We shall hold
fair and just elections, not because of scolding by diplomats, but because we
have sufficient intelligence and morality to do what is right for ourselves. If
Ambassador Symington has familiarized
himself with Nigeria’s history from 1999 till date, he would have realized that
those in the main opposition are being haunted by their past: they think
President Buhari would behave exactly like they did all these years when they
consistently rigged elections and denied Nigerians the right to choose their
leaders
“If Ambassador Symington truly intends to be impartial, his
statements should acknowledge that both Government and Opposition (particularly
in States where the opposition have Governors in place) must respect the
process and refrain from rigging. We expect him to counsel both governing party
and the Opposition from any form of electoral malpractice. After all, it is not
only Governments at the center that rig elections. Elections can also be rigged
in opposition-controlled areas.
“It is not too late
for Ambassador Symington to repair the damage of his uninformed statements. He
needs to speak as an impartial envoy instead of a person who appears to have
prejudged the quality of the process and the outcome. Until he attains that
level of informed impartiality, whatever good he seeks is better achieved by
his silence than by tendentious utterances.”
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