Nigeria to assist Zimbabwe to conduct free polls

“Zimbabwe’s PM asks for Nigeria’s assistance, and the President obliges.” 

President Goodluck Jonathan has assured the government of Zimbabwe that Nigeria would support all efforts to ensure the conduct of peaceful, transparent and credible elections in that country.

The President gave the assurance when Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai visited him in Abuja to solicit  Nigeria’s support for the country’s general elections which are scheduled for next year.

Tsvangirai said that all efforts were being made under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to conduct free and fair elections in 2012. He updated the President on the efforts being made by his country and the SADC and requested a more active role by Nigeria in the entire election process.

“Nigeria and AU must be involved actively in support of the SADC initiative and also to ensure that we don’t have a repeat of the Ivorian experience,” he said.

Jonathan in his response said that Nigeria would support all efforts by the SADC and AU, both guarantors of the global political agreement in Zimbabwe, to achieve credible polls in the country.

“All African countries have a responsibility to ensure that Zimbabwe does not go back to the crisis of the past with the consequent loss of lives,” Jonathan said, “Nigeria will support the SADC, which is the regional grouping for Southern Africa, in all efforts for successful elections in Zimbabwe.”

The President also said that Africans must show that they can conduct peaceful, transparent and credible elections to create the stable socio-political and economic environment required for investments.

He said that lessons learnt from Kenya and the Ivory Coast should be used in Zimbabwe and other African nations to avoid post-election crises.

The President thanked Tsvangirai for coming personally and for the extensive briefing on preparations for the elections.

Source: DailyTimes