The United Kingdom has committed to providing help to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to guarantee a free, fair, and credible election in 2023,
Catriona Laing, the British High Commissioner in Nigeria, made the promise in an interview with NAN on Saturday. She stated that the United Kingdom would be closely monitoring the elections.
The Commissioner disclosed that the United Kingdom’ s government intends to penalize anyone who is involved in election violence in any way, whether directly or indirectly, by making use of its visa program.
She said, ” What I have just said now– the advocacy– is showing Nigerians that we care about their democracy and we are watching it.
” In a practical way, for many elections, we have been supporting INEC– your electoral body– to ensure it has got the necessary systems and processes in place. And in each election, we have seen INEC improve its processes.
” We were the partner who supported the passing of the Electoral Act. It was a project that we funded through legal advisors to help you actually write that Electoral Act and look at best practices globally.
” And it has been instrumental. So, with the passing of that, then the possibility for electronic transmission of votes, the young people feel much more confident that their votes will count.
