2023 polls will be the best, Senate president assures EU observers, Kenya’s Raila Odinga

Senate President Ahmad Lawan is optimistic that the upcoming general election will be Nigeria’s best ever.

Lawan expressed this optimism on Tuesday when he hosted a delegation of European Union election observers and former Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, who paid separate courtesy visits to the Senate President.

Odinga was in Nigeria at the request of the Management of the Leadership newspapers for their annual conference and awards held in Abuja on Tuesday.

The president of the senate told his guests that the National Assembly had worked very hard to provide the necessary support to the election office and passed the necessary legislation to steer the electoral environment for the polls.

Receiving the EU delegation headed by Thomas Boserup, Deputy Chief Observer, the Senate President said: “This year’s general election will probably be the best. This is because we have worked so hard in the National Assembly to produce a very good document to guide the electoral environment in Nigeria.

“The amendment to the Electoral Act was signed into law by Mr. President last year and INEC has been given ample opportunity and leeway to introduce technology into the election.

“In my opinion, the introduction of BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) will make a major contribution to minimizing electoral fraud and manipulation.
We believe that this was one of the serious issues that previously confused our elections.

“What motivates us more is what we were able to give to INEC. I think INEC is a princely institution. We have always prioritized INEC. We believe that INEC should not fail. When INEC makes a request, we believe we should always give INEC what our country can afford.

“Where we can give everything, we should. If we have to meet INEC halfway, we must have a good reason. This is because we don’t want an excuse from INEC.

“We want INEC to perform very well. We want the 2023 elections to be very credible and very transparent and with the introduction of BVAS we believe we can deliver on that achievement.

“Your (EU) statement in 2019 was very helpful. We believe that the stability of Nigeria is the stability of Africa and indeed the stability of the world. And what you are doing is not only stabilizing our political or electoral process, but also making other countries copy from us.”

Also while receiving the Kenyan former prime minister and his delegation, Lawan reiterated similar sentiments about the 2023 polls.

Lawan praised Odinga for his role in ensuring that Kenyan democracy is peaceful and stable.

He said: “Election periods are normally periods that are described as uncertain, especially in developing countries and particularly in Africa.

“Many things have been suspended. Everyone will tell you when the election is over. Why? Because people fear that elections will bring violence and so much uncertainty.

“I think we need to keep working to ensure that our elections are peaceful and credible, that the integrity test we need to push through our elections should give us every hope and give our people every hope that their votes count.

“I think with more certainty around our election periods that people will see election periods as those normal activities, that you can just go vote and go on with your other activities. But we have to work hard to make sure that people don’t see election periods as periods of violence.

“I want to commend and congratulate you on your efforts to ensure that Kenyan democracy is peaceful and stable.

“I must commend you for the stance you took on the recent election results in Kenya. You are an African patriot and you are an African democrat and a leader.

“In 2022, the National Assembly passed the Electoral Act (amendment) that Mr. President signed and we introduced so many innovations.

“We have given INEC so many powers to introduce technology into the elections so that we reduce subjectivity, the possibility of manipulation and an unhealthy attitude of some politicians or their agents.

“And we believe that the 2023 elections will have the best and highest quality of electoral processes than the last.
We hope that the outcome will reflect the will of the Nigerians.”

Earlier, Odinga told the Senate President that Nigeria and Kenya maintained a long-standing relationship.

He expressed his delight in learning more about the uniqueness of the Nigerian National Assembly in relation to the Kenyan Parliament.