The United Kingdom (UK) has disclosed that it spent more
than £50million to support electoral processes in Nigeria in the last five
years.
Sam Waldock, Head of Governance and Stability, UK Foreign
and Commonwealth Development Office, spoke at a retreat of the Joint Technical
Committee on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2020 in Abuja.
Waldock said his country was a proud supporter of Nigeria’s
democratic process.
“In the last five years, the UK had invested over £50million
into Nigeria’s democratic process. We recognise Nigeria as the largest
democracy in Africa, and a leading member of the Commonwealth of nations.
“It will therefore be good to have a robust comprehensive
system in place far ahead of the general election so that adequate preparations
could be made,” The Nation quoted him as saying.
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof.
Mahmood Yakubu, hailed the National Assembly for working out a new legal
framework for conduct of elections.
Represented by the National Commissioner for Voter
Education, Festus Okoye, Yakubu said the reform must be impactful and should be
concluded by the first quarter of 2021.
He assured that INEC was committed to the process of the
amendment and would make recommendations that would improve elections.
“However, it must be borne in mind that amending the
electoral legal framework will not automatically guarantee or lead to
improvement in the management and conduct of elections”, Yakubu noted.
If UK support for elections in Nigeria is not so that it will be like UK does her own elections then it should be understood to be interference to serve UK interest. Nigeria should be supported to conduct accurate census first otherwise no support for elections will be appropriate as no elections will be credible.
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