Buhari pleased with INEC’s preparation

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said he was impressed by preparations of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the general elections.

He spoke while receiving the EOM, led by the Chief Observer and member of the European Parliament, Maria Arena, at the State House, Abuja.

The President said he was optimistic the electoral body would deliver on its mandate of a credible poll.

Buhari, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said he listened earlier to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, when he briefed the National Council of State.

His words: “I am happy and impressed with the briefing he gave. I hope that the confidence he exuded and the intellect he brought to bear on the Report will be justified at the end of the day.”

The President told the EU delegation that Nigeria had grown its electoral system incrementally, getting better year after year.

“Having participated in elections four times in the past, I would say that since 2015, technology has helped the credibility of our elections,” he said.

Buhari said that Nigeria with over 250 cultural groups across religions and ethnic groups, with each group canvassing for identity and primacy in the affairs of the nation, “patriotism demands that we identify the nation’s best interest and go with it.”

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He said that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had the good sense of identifying the national interest to include security, peace and stability, improved economy, jobs creation and campaign against corruption.

He noted the party was not wrong in 2015, and is not wrong going into the election this year with the same issues in its campaigns.

The President thanked the delegation for taking interest in Nigeria’s elections.

The EOM team, accompanied by Ambassador Ketil Karlsen, Head, European Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said that the EU had observed every election in Nigeria since 1999 and had been invited by INEC for the polls.

The delegation promised impartiality and neutrality in the monitoring of the elections.