Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) – Amid heightened tension in the run up to Nigeria’s rescheduled general elections, former South African President Thabo Mbeki has been holding a series of meetings with key stakeholders in an effort to defuse tension and ensure successful polls.
Mbeki, who is in Nigeria to receive the Obafemi Awolowo Leadership Award named after one of the country’s foremost nationalists, has met with President Goodluck Jonathan, main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari and APC leader Bola Ahmed Tinubu, among others.
The former South African leader had been accompanied to the meetings, the latest of which was held with Gen. Buhari on Monday, by former Nigerian military head of state Abdulsalami Abubakar, who has taken on the role of a peace maker since he left office.
Abubakar also presided over the signing of the ‘Abuja Peace Accord’ by both President Jonathan and Gen. Buhari, a pact that has failed to stem violence by supporters of both parties.
Neither Mbeki nor Abubakar has spoken to the media over the closed-door meetings, but analysts said they were meant to ensure that the March 28 and April 11 elections are peaceful and credible.
Nigerians will elect a President and national parliamentarians on 28 March as well as State Governors and legislators on April 11.
The elections, originally scheduled for April 14 and 28, were postponed by six weeks to allow the military to battle the Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east.
The opposition said the postponement was orchestrated by the Jonathan administration because he was facing an imminent defeat, an accusation that has been rejected by the administration.
Calls by some supporters of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the removal of electoral commission chief, Prof. Attahiru Jega, over the use of card reader to bar the use of fake voter cards, have further raised tension ahead of the polls.
Nigeria has a history of violent and rigged polls, with every election causing so much anxiety among the citizens.
Photo: Aarby
