The political instability and other security crisis in the West African sub region has raised a lot of concerns to the point that all hands are now on deck to ensure Nigeria’s 2023 elections are credible, transparent and most importantly, peaceful elections.
To achieve this, The Ecowas Commission in collaboration with the West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) has opened a 2 day stakeholders consultative meeting on peaceful 2023 elections and political transition in Nigeria
The meeting hopes to assess the rate of preparedness, identify gaps and risk factors for instability and proffer methods of nipping such in the bud.
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Nigeria, not only provides leadership in the West African region, but also across the continent
This has made a peaceful transition in the 2023 elections imperative for the sake of the country and the world.
The fact that Nigeria has enjoyed the longest democracy in this 4th Republic, unbroken since 1999, is also a pointer to the need to ensure nothing breaks this run.
But there are worrying factors that could be manipulated and could degenerate into politically motivated violence
These include ongoing security concerns in countries neighbouring Nigeria, the rising demand for good governance by Nigerians, economic and social challenges, operations of violent extremist groups, insurgents and separatists groups, increase in organised crimes and the impact of climate change.
Finding a solutions to these impending threats and gaps is the essence of this meeting organised by ECOWAS and WANEP, with funding from the Swedish and Austrian government.
Participants include members of the international community, the UNDP, civil society organizations, police, INEC, and other international organizations.
The need to take the dialogue to the state level has been identified, as this is usually the source of violence.
Above all, the meeting’s goal is to elicit commitment from political parties and actors, civil society organizations, INEC, and security agents to a peaceful 2023 election.
