AHEAD of next month’s general elections in Nigeria, the United States (US) has vowed to deny visa to anyone found fanning the embers of electoral violence in any part of the country.
The US Consul-General, Will Stevens, made the vow on Saturday January 21 while addressing participants at a town hall meeting organised by the Niger-Delta Open Observatory (NOGO), in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
Stating that the US did not have any preferred candidate in the Nigerian presidential election holding next month, Stevens said his country was only concerned about fair, free and credible polls.
He noted that voting by Nigerians shows the strength of democracy to the rest of the world.
“These elections are important. Nigeria is the fifth largest democracy in the world.
“We in the United States will discourage any politicians, citizens, or other parties who are encouraging electoral violence or seeking to undermine the electoral process,” he said.
Last year, the United Kingdom had also vowed to sanction Nigerians seeking to undermine the 2023 general elections.
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, said some of the sanctions, which included visa ban, had worked in the past and deterred election offenders in the country.
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