Jonathan Promises: An Irrevocable Commitment To Free And Fair Elections

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I have on this page and on several occassions made a committment to free, fair and credible elections. I believe that the journey to a fair election is one that we all must undertake. On my part I am irrevocably committed to ensuring that Nigeria and Nigerians have an election in 2011 that we all can be proud of. Towards this end I appointed a man who is acknowledged as incorruptible and fair minded to head the Independent National Electoral Commission. Also some of you may recall that when opposition party elements and civil society complained about the antecedents of some of the commissioners I had nominated, I withdrew their nomination not because they were not qualified, but because I was more interested in seeing that not only do we have free and fair credible elections but that these elections were seen to be so by the average Nigerian. Beyond that, I made sure that the funds requested by Chairman Jega's INEC were released to them with record dispatch (within a week). All these I have done to show Nigerians my hand and my motives. Some of you may recall that I even threw a public challenge to the INEC to ask for whatever they want within legal bounds and they will get it so that they can not complain that their hands and legs were tied. Finally, you my facebook friends and fellow Nigerians are witnesses to the speed with which I acted to reaffirm that nothing short of the actualisation of the true intent of the voters of The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire in the recent elections were Alassane Ouattara polled the highest number of votes will be acceptable to Nigeria and ECOWAS.

Now ask yourselves, if I could come out so openly to take a stance in support of credible elections in another country how can I refuse to practise what I preach? There is no stronger commitment than this because if I can sit over ECOWAS and insist that the right thing be done in a fellow member country, I am also laying the grounds for peer review in Nigeria and I am not going to allow Nigeria under my watch to be accused of hypocrisy. I will accept no less than what I have called for in The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire in Nigeria during and after the 2011 elections which are free and fair elections that are seen to be so by the average man.

As such, I call on all Nigerians to be steadfast and work with me. Let us not allow ANYONE rob us off this unique opportunity to decide the direction our country will go in 2011. We should not politicise any incident and inject suspicion into the polity. I specifically want to mention the stolen Direct Data Capture machines. I am glad that the police have lived up to their responsibilities and have made arrests and recovery of items. This is laudable and should be supported by everyone. Lessons have been learnt and government under my leadership has taken steps to strongly remind those under whose watch the unfortunate incidence happened of the need to be extra vigilant to make sure that there is no recurrence. I want to assure all Nigerians that the process that will lead to credible elections in 2011 have not been interrupted in any way whatsoever. I call on ALL Nigerians to be vigilant and watchful so that those who threaten violence if they do not have their way are put to shame.

Finally, I call on you all to note that not only have I spoken about the need to run an issue based campaign devoid of primordial sentiments such as ethnicity, region and religion, I have walked my talk and practised what I preach. I say this today and I say this strongly-in 2011 there shall not be any do or die elections. As long as God permits me to serve you, we shall have genuine credible elections in which everybody who wants to will vote and every vote will count and the results will be sacrosanct NO MATTER WHO WINS!

- GEJ.
by Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday, 16 December 2010 at 12:42
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