The United States Government has warned that Nigerian politicians who sabotage Nigeria’s democratic elections in 2023 through violent acts will be placed under visa sanctions.
This is exposed by Rolf Olson, Political Counselor of the US Embassy in Nigeria during the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Alumni Association Annual Seminar in Abuja on Thursday.
He added that the United States is not supporting any individual candidate or party in this election cycle.
Visa penalties: Olson noted that visa sanctions are one of the tools the US Government will use to help prevent violence. He said:
- “When we say all Nigerians, we mean everyone: politicians, candidates, students, religious leaders, traditional, community, youth, and business organizations and entities – everyone has a role to play in this effort . Even a small number of troublemakers can cause a lot of damage in an election. It requires a comprehensive effort to try to eliminate the use of violence and inflammatory rhetoric.
- “Individuals who seek to undermine the democratic process, including through violence, may be found ineligible for visas to the United States. We have previously imposed visa restrictions against those responsible for, or complicit in , undermining the democratic process, and remains fully prepared to do so again in the context of the upcoming elections.
- “There is no real democratic election where the outcome is predictable, adding that any candidate who is not willing to accept the possibility that you may lose, should not be running for office in the first place.”
Olson urged that no democracy, including Nigeria, would be well served if millions of its citizens believe that only one legitimate result on election day is possible. Therefore, he warned political parties to “avoid that kind of rhetoric, and Nigeria’s electoral process is better for it.”
No party support: He also emphasized that the US Government has no support for any individual candidate or party in the 2023 General election or any other election. According to him, “the United States is not supporting any individual candidate or party in this election cycle.”
He added that its interest is to support credible and transparent elections that reflect the will of the Nigerian electorate, in a process that is conducted peacefully.
If you missed it: Nairametrics reported earlier that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said the testimony of child voter and many registered voters in its Voter Display Scheme is a sign of its “commitment to transparency”.
INEC stated that the purpose of the display was to enable Nigerians to check the preliminary register and make claims about misspellings of names, personal details, or missing names” for people under the age of 18 years, dead people, foreigners or those who commit falsehood. claim to have them deleted from the registry.