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| Secretary General, United Nation, Mr. Ban Ki-moon |
United Nations Secretary-General, Ban
Ki-moon has urged the Federal Government to ensure that the new dates
set for the general elections are maintained following the recent
postponement.
The polls, originally scheduled for
February 14, was rescheduled to March 28 and 11 April,2015 following
appeals by the armed forces to delay the vote for six weeks within which
to combat the Boko Haram terrorist threat.
In a statement on Friday, the
Secretary-General welcomed commitments by the presidential candidates to
respect the new calendar and commended the progress made by the
Independent National Electoral Commission in the preparation for the
elections, including the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards.
In addition, Ban urged all relevant
national institutions to continue to work with INEC “to ensure all
voters can exercise their constitutional right to participate in the
elections freely and without intimidation.”
He expressed strong concerns over
reports of election-related violence and urged all political leaders to
adhere to their commitments under the Abuja Accord, “to refrain from
inflammatory statements and to immediately condemn any statements from
their supporters that amount to an incitement to violence or subversion
of the electoral process.”
Ban reiterated that the UN would
continue to closely follow developments in the country and that the
Organisation was offering its full support to Nigeria at this important
moment, particularly through the ongoing active engagement of his
High-Level Representative to Nigeria, Mohamed Ibn Chambas.
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