The European Union (EU) has said it is not in support of any candidate or political party for the 2019 presidential election.
Head of EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Amb. Ketil Karlsen, said this on Thursday while visiting with the Director-General, Buhari Campaign Organisation, Rotimi Amaechi.
He said the EU’s concern was about best electoral practices for Nigeria and assured that it would partner with Nigerians to organise credible polls in 2019.
“We look forward to a good collaboration on this occasion of the 2019 general elections. We have had election observers in Nigeria for all general elections since 1999.
“For the EU, we really do not have any preferred candidate; we don’t have any preferred political party; we don’t promote any particular ideology in Nigeria.
“We are very concerned about having the best possible process in the country. We want to see free, fair, credible and peaceful election. So this is why we have invested not only our time but also a lot of European tax payers’ money on engaging with all the Nigerian stakeholders since 1999.
“We have spent more than E100m, Euro, in giving support for electoral process. So, currently, we support INEC, we support the National Assembly, we support intra-party democracy and we support all stakeholders.
In his own remarks, Amaechi assured the delegation that the All Progressives Congress, APC, would adhere strictly to the electoral laws in the general elections and President Buhari would accept the outcome of the elections.
His words: “One assurance I will give you today is that we’ll stand by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and we will stand by whatever decision they make. We believe that we promised Nigerians change and I also believe that you can observe the change.
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“By this time in 2014/2015, when I was still in office as governor, I was on fire. Everybody was on my neck. The then President had withdrawn my security. My ADC and CSO were on the run; there was no police security and nobody cared. They didn’t bother that I could be killed or attacked.
“I was attacked several times. I was attacked in Port Harcourt. But now, we believe the President that they were accusing that would be undemocratic because he is a retired soldier is more democratic than a civilian that was elected in the past.
“During the Anambra State election, when the governor cried out that his ADC had been withdrawn, President Buhari ordered that the governor’s ADC be reinstated immediately. So you see, that is the change we are talking about.
“So the assurance I will give you from President Buhari Campaign Organisation is that there will be no interference by the President.
“We’ll play by the rules and whatever the campaign team needs to do to ensure that the election is transparent, we will do.
Amaechi also made a promise that the APC will ensure that Nigerians have an election they will be proud of, and hoped that contestants from other parties will take the same stand.
