Former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is also head of the African Union Election Observer Mission to Nigeria (AUEOM), on Wednesday, met with the group members who have been tasked to monitor the upcoming Nigerian election, reported The Africa News.
The AUEOM will observe the integrity of Nigeria’s presidential and national assembly elections, scheduled to be held on Feb. 25.
Addressing the observer mission, the former Kenyan president upheld the mission’s mandate in the electoral process as that of observing the upcoming general election. He ensured that the election will be conducted in a free, credible, and transparent manner.
“We are here to witness the people decide for themselves and to ensure that the process has been run in a manner in which the will shall be the victor,” Kenyatta said.
He called on the election observers to act completely impartial and neutral, adding that their work is to witness the Nigerians elect their leaders. The mission observers will be deployed to various parts of the country alongside other observer’s mission groups approved by the Nigeria Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to observe the process.
According to the AU, the former Kenyan president and head of the observer mission will issue a preliminary statement on the findings of the electoral process after the elections through a press conference along with members of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Election Observation Mission on Monday, Feb. 27.
A total of 18 candidates have submitted their candidacies for the forthcoming presidential election. After completing two full terms, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is now stepping down. The main contenders are Atiku Abubakar from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bola Tinubu from the APC.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, Nigeria’s electoral body, has registered a total of 93,469,008 voters across the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory.
