The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, says she hopes that the lessons learned from the conduct of February 25, 2023, presidential election have been addressed as Nigerians vote in the governorship and state assembly elections on March 18.
Chronicle NG reports that the conduct of the February 25 elections have come under fierce scrutiny with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accused of failing to hold a credible election.
INEC had assured Nigerians that it would deploy Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in the conduct of the presidential election but it failed to do so in many states which led many including a former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, to call for cancellation of the polls.
The BVAS has since been reconfigured in time for the governorship polls.
In a goodwill message to Nigerians, Laing urged Nigerians to vote peacefully as the country continues its democratic journey.
“With gubernatorial elections tomorrow, Nigeria continues on the democratic journey begun in 1999,” she wrote on her Twitter page.
Adding that, “I hope lessons from 25 February have been addressed so the process runs smoothly allowing Nigerians to exercise their democratic right to vote peacefully NGElections2023.”
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress is seeking re-election in Lagos and he faces stiff competition from Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of Labour Party (LP), and Abdul-Azeez Adediran of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
