*Meet with Atiku, Kwankwaso, Obi and Tinubu in a peace move
Former Nigeria President Dr Goodluck Jonathan, Ex-Ghanaian President John Mahama and other members of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) Election Mission to Nigeria have appealed for calm in the country while calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address the concerns and procedural questions raised so far by different stakeholders.
The Elders have also urged INEC to comply with the electoral law and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as a means of retaining the confidence of Nigerians in the ongoing collating of the February 25, 20233 election results.
The Elders who stated this in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday also revealed that they have begun a process of consultations with some of the presidential candidates and other key stakeholders, taking to them a message of peace in order to ensure that there is no breakdown of law and order in the country.
The presidential candidates the Elders have met since the elections held on Saturday include Senator Bola Tinubu of All Progressives Congress, Mr Peter Obi Of the Labour Party, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In the statement jointly signed by Jonathan who is the convener of WAEF and Mahama, Head of WAEF’s Mission to Nigeria’s 2023 Elections, the Forum commended Nigerians for the calmness, patience and maturity they have continued to exhibit as they wait for the collation process to be concluded.
The Mission further noted that Nigerians demonstrated faith and patriotism in their country, by defying the challenges of delay in the arrival of electoral materials, voter suppression and incidents of violence to perform their civic duties of voting on election day.