Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday warned perpetrators of postelection violence that "enough is enough," saying the unrest brings back memories of events leading up to a 1960s civil war in the nation.
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Fifty-two Nigerians will be deported, today, by the UK government, a Nigerian official at the High Commission in London has said.
Mr Mohammed Isa, the Head of the Immigration Section in the Nigerian High Commission in the UK, speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, said that the would-be deportees would arrive at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in a chartered flight.
He said that they included those who had either completed their prison terms, failed-asylum seekers or those who overstayed their authorised permit.
Mohammed further also said that those to be deported would be accompanied by British law enforcement agents and two Nigerian officials.
"This is the first time a chartered flight conveying Nigerian deportees would be accompanied by Nigerian officials," Isa said.
He added: "Though, it is also in line with the global best practices, it is our responsibility to ensure that the deportees are treated in the most humane and dignified manner."
He pointed out that the mission had never recorded any 'ugly incidents' on the UK route since the exercise began following the conclusion in 2005, of a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) on migration returns between the two countries.
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The Obama administration says the conduct of Nigeria’s April 16 presidential election was historic and shows a significant improvement over the country’s flawed 2007 presidential contest.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner congratulated the declared winner, President Goodluck Jonathan, and said the United States sees the vote as “a positive new beginning for Nigeria.”
Speaking in Washington April 19, Toner said Nigerians had been given a real opportunity to select their senior leadership, and the election “sets Nigeria on a course toward solidifying and improving its democracy through strong governance and transparent institutions.”
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, headed by Attahiru Jega, announced April 18 that Jonathan received 22.5 million votes, or approximately 57 percent of the total, which was high enough to avoid a runoff election with his nearest rival, General Muhammadu Buhari, who received 12.2 million votes.
According to press reports, news of Jonathan’s victory prompted riots in the north of the country, with charges of ballot rigging. The riots have reportedly displaced around 16,000 people and destroyed several churches.
Toner condemned the violence and called upon “all candidates, political parties and supporters to respect the results of the election” and to “channel any grievances or challenges peacefully” for redress by legal and administrative personnel in the country.
Observer teams from the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) reported that the presidential vote had met their criteria to be considered fair and transparent.
ECOWAS observer mission head and former Liberian President Amos Sawyer told reporters April 17 that his 300-member team “found no major incidents or irregularities” and described the vote as “a historic step for the strengthening of democracy and good governance in Nigeria.”
Former Ghanaian President John Kufuor headed the AU observer team. He said the election had been fair and credible, and that any questions of fraud would be misplaced, according to press reports.
Speaking on April 17, Kufuor said Nigerians all over the country had “shown determination to exercise [their] franchise and give themselves the leader they want, and it’s refreshing.”
“Nigeria hasn’t been served too well for decades electorally, but to our pleasant surprise we found the people of Nigeria generally are the security against this,” Kufuor said.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson praised the conduct of Nigeria’s National Assembly elections, which were held April 9, and wrote in an April 15 commentary that he and other U.S. officials “were heartened by what we saw” when observing the vote for the legislature.
“In sharp contrast to its elections of 2007, Nigeria was demonstrating that it can hold credible elections that allow the Nigerian people a meaningful opportunity to elect their leaders,” he wrote.
Carson said all Africans “deserve smooth, peaceful, transparent and credible elections” and that Nigeria’s presidential and National Assembly contests, as well as the April 26 vote for the country’s state governorships and state assemblies, “provide an historic opportunity for Nigeria to become a model for the rest of Africa and the world, especially for those citizens demanding democracy in their countries.”
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Super Eagles defender Olubayo Adefemi has died from a car accident in Greece.
According to a BBC report, quoting Greek police on Monday, said the Nigeria international defender died in a car accident.
The 25-year-old, who played for Skoda Xanthi, lost control of his car on the Egnatia motorway before the crash.
Adefemi was driving from Xanthi to Salonika in the Kavala region of northern Greece.
The player was said to be on his way to finalise details of his wedding when the accident happened.
The former Bendel Insurance and Hapoel Tel Aviv of Isreal player was a member of the Samson Siasia led Under 20-squad that played at the final with the Lionel Messi-led Argentina team at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.
He was also part of Nigeria's football team to the 2008 Olympic Games and he made his senior national team debut against Ireland on May 29, 2009.
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The three major international observers, in separate preliminary press conferences, yesterday scored the conduct of the last Saturday presidential election across the country high. They, however, noted that some challenges remain to be addressed.
The leader of the European Union observers, Alojz Peterle, noted that there had been substantial improvement over the National Assembly elections.
Mariya Nedelcheva, head of the four-member strong delegation of the European Parliament, which joined the EU EOM before the presidential elections said: "Saturday's elections are a convincing proof that the Nigerian authorities, institution and electorate are determined to remain owners of their destiny and to run even better elections in the future."
According to the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs led by the former Prime Minister of Canada, Joe Clark, the election "represent a step forward with seriously flawed elections of the past and hold the promise of setting a new standard for integrity in Nigeria's electoral process."
The International Republican Institute (IRI) said the ability of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address some deficiencies in the electoral process between the April 9 National Assembly elections and the presidential election was praise-worthy.
The leader of IRI, former Prime Minister of Slovenian, Hon Janez Jansa, noted the role of women during the election but said the extent to which women are fully participating in the political process needs to be addressed.
Both organisations also commended the professionalism and independence of INEC, the leadership ability of the INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, and the overall integrity of the electoral process.
They, however, cited a number of problems that need to be addressed before the upcoming state elections and in the longer term. It recommended that actions be taken by INEC, political parties and security services before the next election, which are to split all polling places with over 500 voters into sub-units to improve efficiency and access to the process.
"Standardise implementation of procedures in all states and local government areas while ensuring security, sufficient staff and adequate facilities for collation centres, protect the rights of INEC accredited citizen observers, including their right to move freely on election day and rigorously follow and abide by provisions of the Code of Conduct prohibiting acts of violence, intimidation of voters and other violations of the Electoral Act.
Mr. Peterle encouraged voters to remain confident in the electoral process while calling on all stakeholders in the elections to maintain a peaceful and positive atmosphere and not to allow any intimidation. Some of the shortcomings, however, were the inconsistent implementation of procedures and attempts to influence voters. This, it said, could have negative impact on the trust of voters in the integrity of the electoral process.
Both observers promised to present it final findings after the whole elections in a final report reflecting a comprehensive analysis and suggestions.
The National Democratic Institute's (NDI) International observer mission has called on candidates and their supporters to utilise peaceful and legal means to resolve election-related complaints.
The delegation made this call yesterday at a press conference in Abuja even as it noted that pockets of violence trailed the just concluded presidential election in various cities.
Speaking through the co-leader of the delegation, the former President of Niger and former Speaker of ECOWAS, Mahamane Ousmane said the delegation notes with grave concern multiple incidents of violence in the post-election period that has resulted in the loss of lives and properties.
"On election day, two separate explosions struck Borno State. Two bombings occurred in Kaduna and a shooting in Jos left one person dead. Tensions between party supporters led to serious incidents of violence after the close of polls," Mahamane remarked.
He further noted that mob violence broke out in a number of states where party supporters damaged property and physically harmed and killed members of opposing parties or INEC officials.
Giving short-term recommendations, the co-leader and former prime minister of Canada, Joe Clark, submitted that political parties should rigorously follow and abide by provisions of the code of conduct prohibiting acts of violence, intimidation of voters and other violations of the Electoral Act.
He further recommended that political parties should adopt transparent candidate choosen, campaign and party finance processes in compliance with 2010 electoral act and to refrain on extra-judicial and violent rejection of election results but to use peaceful and legal means to resolve electoral disputes.
Some of the long-term recommendations include that the government should finalise the legal framework at least six months before the election as stipulated by article 2.1 of the ECOWAS protocol for democracy and good governance.
It advised INEC to organise regular capacity training for its permanent and ad hoc staff.
He further recommended that civil society organizations should build on the accomplishments of the 2011 elections to strengthen involvement in the political process.
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