Ms Catriona Laing, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, has given a stern warning to Nigerian politicians who are execute or incite  violence during Saturday;s presidential poll and this includes visa banned and their UK assets confiscation.

Laing gave the warning at a press briefing on Wednesday in Abuja to unveil the Election Situation Room of the Civil Society Situation Room set up by a coalition of civil society organisations to monitor the polls in Abuja.NAN reports that Laing reminded political parties that apart from their assets being seized in the UK, they could experience a worst case scenario of prosecution.

“We will apply this absolutely across board not directed to any particular party; so, we are monitoring and looking out for hate speech.We are concerned about the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) rally which has hate speech a lot and we will like to call that kind of thing out.Our two worries are on security not just on the role the police will play to ensure peace but about the role individuals play by getting angry or militias being paid to disrupt elections .

“Then, another worry is fake news ,that is why we rely on CSOs and we will work with them to get information,’’she saidUN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Mr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, thanked the CSOs for the launch of the situation room, describing it as a good work toward the elections .Ibn Chambas said that it showed that the groups were prepared for the elections and ready to monitor the voting process thus helping UN with ideas on the process in the country.

The American Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Stuart Symington, said that the special thing with the room was not just about that CSOs would say and do but about what every Nigerian would say and do.“The time has come for this outside world that cares so much about Nigeria to listen to the people of Nigeria and to see what each of them do and then forward the results to lift Nigeria up,’’ Symington said.

It will be recalled that the British government released a statement on Nigeria’s election which read thus: As friends of Nigeria and its people, we will follow the campaigns and election process closely. Who wins the elections is for the Nigerian people to decide. Our concern is to see a process leading to free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections.We hope to see transparent campaigns and we urge all voters to use their democratic right and vote. We are particularly keen to see greater participation of women, youth and people living with disabilities.We urge all involved – political and non-political actors – to refrain from using hate speech and take a firm stance against violence. The 2015 Peace Accords played an important role in that regard and we welcome new efforts towards that end.

 

 

SOURCE: DAILYPOST

 

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