NIGERIA’S president Muhammadu Buhari has urged youths and women in the country to be more involved in the electoral cycle.
Buhari made the call today while delivering his last Independence Day speech as president.
“I also want to express my wish that we see more female and youth participation in the forthcoming electoral cycle. I am sure that our teeming and energetic youths now realise that violence generally mar elections and so should desist from being used by politicians for this purpose,” he said.
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He urged candidates in the elections to avoid hate speeches and decisive measures, and focus more on issues-based campaigns.
Describing himself as a victim of an unfair electoral process, the president also assured Nigerians that his administration would ensure transparency and fairness in the 2023 elections.
“Having witnessed at close quarters, the pains, anguish and disappointment of being a victim of an unfair electoral process, the pursuit of an electoral system and processes that guarantee election of leaders by citizens remains the guiding light as I prepare to wind down our administration,” Buhari noted.
He added that recent elections held in some parts of the country had reflected credibility and promised that it would be improved upon in 2023.
Buhari noted that efforts at development would yield no results if credible leaders were not elected through free and fair elections, and reiterated his resolve to bequeath the nation with a sustainable democratic culture.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.