The United States Consul General in Nigeria, Mr Will Stevens, has said the United States is committed to ensuring the 2023 elections in Nigeria are peaceful and transparent.
This came as communication experts, including Professor Chris Ulasi from the Texas Southern University, Professor Lai Oso from the Lagos State University, and Mr Ken Ike have charged journalists on how to cover the 2023 elections effectively.
Stevens spoke at the opening of a three-day workshop organised for journalists drawn from the South-West zone and held at the American Corner in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He assured Nigerians that the US government would monitor the elections to ensure that votes count and the outcome reflect the wishes of Nigerians.
The Consul General disclosed that the US government has set aside $50m to help Nigeria, particularly the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in the area of technical and logistic support for the IT systems as a demonstration of its commitment to entrenching democracy in Nigeria.
“We are really focused on ensuring that the elections are peaceful and we really want to see credible elections that represent the will of the Nigerian people.
“We have been working closely with partners and civil society and INEC through a US Agency for international development ― the National Democracy Institute ― to focus on technical assistance to INEC and others and to support the systems that are being put in place to ensure every vote counts.
“The US government has allocated over $50m for technical assistance, support and training for INEC and others to support election transparency, primarily technical assistance and working on the IT systems and some other things.
“Democracy is a process and not a finished product and it is a process that does not happen without journalists. Journalists have to know more than anyone else. The training is to deepen their expertise,” he said.
Responding to a question on how the US can support INEC against cyber attacks as contained in an alarm raised by the national chairman of the electoral body recently, Stevens said a technical team from the US was already working with INEC to ensure the integrity of the elections was intact.
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