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A 17-member team from the Commonwealth Secretariat arrives in Nigeria tomorrow (5 January 1999), a few days before the State Assembly and Gubernatorial Elections to be held on 9 January. The team, led by the Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General (Political), Mr K Srinivasan, will seek to gain a broad overview of the electoral process and the elections themselves, and thereafter submit a report to the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku.
The team is being sent in response to an invitation from the Chairman of Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the Commonwealth to observe the country's multi-stage electoral arrangements, which commenced with the Local Government Council Elections held on 5 December 1998. A similar team from the Commonwealth Secretariat, which included representatives of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum, was in Nigeria for those elections. In a statement issued in the wake of the Local Government Council Elections, the Secretary-General expressed satisfaction at their conduct and commended INEC for working closely with the political parties to facilitate an inclusive and transparent political process.
The Commonwealth has also been providing advice and technical assistance to INEC since October 1998. A Commonwealth logistics expert has been advising the Commission and several Commonwealth electoral experts have helped to train INEC officials.
The State Assembly and Gubernatorial Elections in January will be followed by elections to the National Assembly on 20 February 1999 and to the Presidency a week later. A high-level Commonwealth Observer Group is expected to be in Nigeria for the February 1999 elections.
Commenting on the eve of the departure of the Secretariat team for Nigeria, Chief Anyaoku, speaking from his home in Obosi in Nigeria, said: "Nigeria's progress towards completing the transition programme put in place by General Abubakar has so far remained credible. I hope that this will be sustained through the remaining stages of the electoral process so that the objective of having in place a democratically elected government in May 1999 will be achieved."
Issued by the Information and Public Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5HX, United Kingdom. Tel: 0171-839 3411; Fax: 0171:839 9081; Telex: 27678
99/01 4 January 1998
[ENDS]
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 14:46:43 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org Subject: NIGERIA: Commonwealth statement on observer team 1999.01.05
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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