Nigeria should avoid the Venezuelan nightmare ― Prof Bolaji Akinyemi

AS the presidential poll kick-starts the 2019 elections on Saturday, a former Minister of External Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, has called on the Nigerian political leadership, party supporters and the electorate to avoid a repeat of what he described as the Venezuelan nightmare where the international community recognised the opposition leader as the country’s alternative president.

Akinyemi, who is the initiator of the peace initiatives that preceded the 2015 elections, stated this in a press release he personally signed and issued on Sunday, adding that he had been filled with much dread and trepidation over the forthcoming elections.

He urged the contestants in the elections not to be desperate but seek for legal means in case the elections were not free and fair, warning that the country should heed the notice put forward by the international community, especially the United States and the United Kingdom.

He also advised that Nigeria should welcome and receive international observers who have been designated to cover the elections, noting that election observer teams have been playing useful and important roles in the electoral process all over the world.

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“I write as a former member of the Electoral Reform Committee, as the former deputy chairman of the 2014 National Conference, as a former foreign minister and as the originator of the peace process before the 2015 presidential election.

“Since I have been monitoring elections in Nigeria, I cannot remember any elections that filled me with so much dread and trepidation as these forthcoming elections. Not even the riotous 1965 Federal elections. And we all know what that led to.

“As a scholar in International Relations, I cannot but bring to the attention of Nigerians the significance of the latest development in Venezuela where the international community, under the United States, has accorded recognition to the opposition leader as the alternative president as their reaction to what it perceives as a flawed election.

“This is promoting regime change by another route. This is the beginning not the end of the Venezuelan nightmare. Nigeria should, by all means, avoid a repetition of the Venezuelan nightmare in Nigeria,” he said.

He appealed to political leaders to impress it upon their supporters to eschew violence and any undemocratic behaviour during the elections, adding, “We should avoid hate speech, not just now but in our political system.

“Political leaders should commit themselves publicly and loudly to free, fair and transparent elections. This is the time for our leaders to commit themselves and their supporters to accepting the result of the elections if the results reflect the true wishes and intentions of the voters.

“In case the elections are not free, fair and transparent, the loser should commit himself to using the tribunals and courts for redress, even though the judicial system is imperfect and under stress now. Above all, there should be no recourse to violence whatever the provocation.

“As someone who has led electoral observer teams to other countries for over a period of 40 years, I welcome and Nigeria should welcome the presence of the observer teams. They perform a useful role in elections all over the world.

“Finally, the United States, the European Union, the International Criminal Court, in other words, the international community, have put us on notice as to their expectations. It is in our own good to listen to them,” he advised.