US: We Will Use Every Sanction Available Against Those Who Undermined Nigeria’s Elections
According to the United States Government, individuals responsible for undermining the recently finished elections in Nigeria will face “all appropriate actions.”
The US expressed its serious concern over incidents of voter intimidation and the use of racially charged language during the March 18 gubernatorial and house of assembly elections.
The Federal Government and other pertinent agencies were urged by the United States Mission in Nigeria to ensure that individuals who supported voting suppression were held accountable in a statement.
The distressing incidents of violent voter intimidation and repression that occurred during those elections in Lagos, Kano, and other states have caused great concern in the United States, the statement adds.
“U.S. diplomatic mission personnel observed the polls in Lagos and elsewhere and personally witnessed some of these instances. Particularly alarming was the use of racially charged rhetoric in Lagos before, during, and after the gubernatorial election.
We demand that anyone found to have directed or carried out actions to intimidate voters and suppress voting during the election process be held accountable and brought to court.
The United States will also take into account any possible measures, such as further visa restrictions, with regard to people thought to be responsible for or complicit in undermining Nigeria’s democratic process.
Elections for the Governorship and State House of Assembly were held on March 18 in contrast to the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections.
Opposition groups demanded that the presidential election be called off after Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the victor.
The Labour Party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and two other parties have already submitted appeals to the election tribunal in an effort to have the results overturned in court.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has also come under fire from several organizations, including the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), for the way the 2023 presidential election was handled. These organizations have called the election illegitimate.
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