2023 elections: Avoid deadly battle, ECOWAS tells Nigerian politicians

A 10-man ECOWAS delegation on a pre-election fact-finding mission yesterday urged Nigerian political parties to embrace dialogue, saying that the 2023 general elections should not be seen as a deadly battle.

The leader of the delegation and former president of the Ghana Electoral Commission, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, made the call in Abuja yesterday when he visited the chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Yabagi Sani.

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Afari-Gyan said their visit was to undertake an assessment of the status of preparations for the conduct of the 2023 elections in implementing the objectives of the mission.

“We’ll really like to urge the political parties to stop talking at each other and being abusive, but start talking to each other. You’re not having a battle,” he said.

The leader of the delegation also bemoaned vote buying and selling in the country.

Responding, Sani said that the absence of committed and patriotic leadership was one of the major challenges of development in the country.

“So, your visit is timely because some of the things that are happening are not good for our peace of mind, especially the issues of violence and use of money in the electoral process. If this kind of visits are not taking place, perhaps such things will keep happening with greater impunity,” Sani said.