U.S. Asks Jonathan to Heal Electoral Wounds

Posted by admin Elections 2011, Goodluck Jonathan (2010-present), NNP Elections 2011 Updates, Presidency Saturday, April 30th, 2011

FOLLOWING the violent protests that trailed Nigeria’s presidential polls in some parts of the North, the United States (U.S.) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to constitute a federal cabinet that would bridge perceived political divisions in the country.

Speaking with reporters on Thursday afternoon in Washington DC, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Ambassador Johnnie Carson, said while the Americans could not say what kind of cabinet or government President Jonathan would put in place in his new term in office, “I hope that he will act in both a responsible and inclusive manner in the selection of those individuals for his cabinet and that in doing so, he will be reaching out to heal the political divisions that were uncovered during the election process.”

Carson observed that already Vice President Namadi Sambo “is in fact, a former northern governor and that the Nigerian Constitution does call for the President of the country to select from individual states various cabinet members.”

The top U.S. diplomat for Africa was addressing the media on the completion of the April 2011 Nigeria polls, after he had personally observed some of the elections in Nigeria.

On the allegations of rigging in some areas during the polls, the Assistant Secretary of State said he hoped that “INEC will take seriously all allegations of election irregularity.”

The U.S. government, he added, was concerned about allegations of fraud and ballot snatching in some areas and “we strongly urge Nigerian authorities to investigate and take corrective actions on all of these allegations.”

According to Carson, “there is no doubt in my mind that there were some imperfections, some technical problems, and probably some justified cases of rigging. But it is up to the election commission to investigate those.”

-Guardianwp_posts