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The British Government has clarified
that it will maintain neutrality as Nigerians go to the polls in 2019 to
elect a new president.
This is as international agencies in
conjunction with local civil society organisations told the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) to fashion out ways in which
Peoples Living with Disabilities (PWDs) will easily participate in the
electoral system in 2019.
The agencies, which include British High
Commission and Australian High Commission in Nigeria, British Department
for International Development (DFID) and Foundation For Justice and
Social Development (FOJSOD), stated that excluding the people living
with disabilities from the electoral system is not in consonance with
the global best practices.
Speaking at a one-day dialogue tagged:
‘Enhancing Electoral Participation of PWDs in 2019 General Election’,
the Political Adviser to the country’s Deputy British High Commissioner,
Mr Wale Adebajo, said the British government neither supports President
Buhari nor the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate,
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, or any other candidate in the election.
Adebajo said the National Disability
Bill that is awaiting presidential assent will help in resolving some of
the issues bedevilling the group in the country.
He applauded INEC for including PWDs in
its strategic plan for the 2017-2021 elections, saying the British
Government and the United States Department for International
Development (USAID) were favourably disposed to the action.
“When we pointed out in the Ondo
governorship election the need to make the PWDs more inclusive in our
elections, INEC responded positively to our response by establishing
desk officers in INEC offices to take care of the PWDs. This to us was a
signal of INEC’s commitment to improving access to electoral system.
“We want to clear the air that the
British government is not supporting any candidate in the election. We
are neutral when it comes to election in Nigeria,” he said.
Source: This Day
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