Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the 2019 general
election witnessed some improvements over previous ones.
He also said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term
victory was made possible through a popular mandate by the majority
of Nigerian voters.
Osibanjo made the assertions at the Electoral Reform Roundtable
jointly organised by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and
Koffi Annan Foundation in Abuja on Wednesday.
The vice-president, who was represented at the event by his
Special Assistant on Technical Matters, Mrs. Ibe Awosika, said
there is no doubting the fact that the Nigerian electorate
demonstrated their love and trust for President Buhari through the
majority vote cast for him and his party, the All Progressives
Congress (APC), at the 2019 presidential election.
He said: “The Nigerian citizens demonstrated their faith in the
leadership and administration of President Muhammadu Buhari at the
March 2019 presidential election with a clear majority. This is
because of their belief in the ability of this administration to
its citizens to the next level in various aspects.”
Speaking on the 2019 elections, Prof. Osibanjo said that various
observer groups had reported that the conduct of the election
marked a remarkable improvement to previous ones.
While acknowledging that more work needed to be done in
improving the country’s electoral system, Osibanjo said that the
federal government will collaborate with the civil society
organisations, the media and other stakeholders to ensure that
recommended improvements are implementated.
Osibanjo said the present administration is setting foundations
that will liberate the people from poverty by increasing the ease
of doing business, funding agriculture, extending credit facilities
to small scale businesses and implementing elaborate social
intervention programmes.
“Similar to the observed improvement in the electoral process,
this administration has seen improvements in other areas of focus.
Thorough monetary and fiscal measures that have simulated economic
growth and cut down on inflation and shoring up our external
reserves which is now $45 billion. This is inspite of the 60% drop
in oil prices,” he said.
The vice-president assured Nigerians that the administration
will in the next four years build on its gains while working to
contain old and new security challenges in the country.
The representative of the Secretary General of the United
Nations, Mohammed Ibn Chambas, also aligned with Osinbajo’s
position, saying that most election observers have noted that the
2019 election was well conducted and that it offered Nigerians
opportunity to elect their leaders at various levels.
He however said that most of the election observer groups have
called for improvement in some aspects of the electoral system.
On his part, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Hon. Idris Wase, said that the National Assembly has received the
report of the European Union (EU) election observation report and
that it will work on the recommendations.
He also assured the gathering that the legislative chambers will
commence fresh constitutional amendments as soon as possible.
“It is part of our agenda and we will not wait till the end of
the four years before the amendments. We will start the process
soon,” he said.
Earlier, while welcoming participants at the roundtable, the
Convener of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Mr. Clement
Nwankwo, described the conduct of the 2019 general election as
disappointing and a drawback to milestones recorded in the previous
exercise in 2015.
Nwankwo, who led other CSOs to observe the last poll in the
country, lamented that what transpired left much to be desired.
He said that the 2019 general election cannot pass as a good
example to other African countries that desire to learn the act of
democratic election from Nigeria.
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