| AS preparations heightened for the conduct of Saturday�s governorship and state legislature elections, the United States called on Nigeria on Thursday to give poll observers �full and transparent access� to venues of elections and collation centres.
�We encourage the electoral authorities and government to take all possible measures to enhance public confidence in the elections,� the State Department spokesman, Mr. Sean McCormack, said in a statement.
�These steps should include the immediate granting of full and transparent access for domestic and international electoral observers,� he said.
He spoke just as the Kaduna State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Ayo Dada, cried out that the state was yet to receive ballot papers for the poll.
McCormack rejected suggestions that Washington was ignoring opposition charges that the Peoples Democratic Party was using intimidation and legal maneouvres to limit candidates.
�In no way, shape or form,� McCormack said, noting that the US government had spent some $15m over the past three years to train election authorities and poll watchers in Nigeria ahead of the votes.
�The United States is a committed supporter of free, fair and open elections in Nigeria,� he said.
But McCormack acknowledged that Nigeria was �trying to move beyond its past where the credibility of some of those elections came into doubt among outside observers.�
�We have talked to the Nigerians periodically about the importance of having the right kinds of elections,� he said, adding that this meant elections that were �free, fair and transparent, not only on election day but also in the run-up to the election.�
Dada who arrived in the state on Wednesday night, however told a meeting of stakeholders in Kaduna that the commission was ready for the conduct of the elections.
He said that the Independent National Electoral Commission in the state had received other election materials, which were ready for distribution to the 23 local government areas in the state.
Dada at a news conference on the preparations of INEC for the poll also said that voting would take place in 5,108 polling units and 15,000 ad hoc staff would assist in the conduct of the poll.
In Benin City, the Edo State capital, security agencies have stepped up surveillance to check breach of the peace.
The Zone G Commander of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mrs. Patience Agbiki, who visited the Edo State capital on Thursday, told our correspondent that all the four commands in the zone, comprising Edo Delta, Bayelsa and Anambra, had been placed on the alert.
The Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Peter Ogboi, also told our correspondent that all officers and men in the command would be on duty on Saturday. |
