Subscribe
Find us on

News & Media

Foundation News

Nigeria: Kofi Annan urges the authorities to respect new election dates

Geneva, 9 February: Taking note of the decision to postpone the Nigerian elections and the underlying reasons, Kofi Annan expressed concern that any further delay could undermine the credibility of the elections.

“Successful elections depend not only on security and logistics, but also on trust”, said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation.

He added that, “this postponement, though perhaps necessary to shore up security, runs the risk of eroding the trust of the electorate.

Ensuring free, fair, peaceful and timely elections is a collective responsibility. In the spirit of the Abuja Accord, I urge Nigeria’s authorities to work with INEC, the political parties, the security forces and civil society to ensure that the new deadline they have set themselves is met. Any further delay could undermine the legitimacy of the outcome of the elections and provoke instability.”