The West Africa Elders’ Forum has called on Nigerians to ensure that the 2023 elections are credible and conducted in a violence-free atmosphere. The forum says this will signal to the rest of the region that democracy has come to stay and discourage the trend of democratic recession in West Africa.
Head of the WAEF Pre-election Mediation Mission and former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, stated this at a news conference while presenting the forum’s post-mission statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
Koroma emphasized that the 2023 general election in Nigeria is of great significance for West Africa and the entire African continent.
His words: “we call on all Nigerians to exercise their rights to civic participation both before and during the coming elections without fear while also respecting the rights of others to do the same.
Our region, West Africa, of late, has experienced some reversal in democratic practice with unconstitutional changes of government in some countries. At the heart of the instability within the sub-region are the issue of disputed elections and citizen disaffection.