A Civil Society Organisation has faulted the position of the US Mission in Nigeria on the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal’s judgment.
The CSO, under the aegis of Coalition for Good Governance and Economic Justice in Africa, said foreign bodies should desist from interfering with local politics in the country..
The CSO’s Country Director, John Mayaki, stated this while briefing newsmen on Sunday in Abuja.
He said that the mission had no role to play in Nigeria’s judiciary or even in the country’s local politics.
He called for the protection of the country’s institutions.
Mayaki, who said the group was shocked by the statement made by the US, said, “there should be a limit to everything.”
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He pointed out that the tribunal adjudicated to its best ability on what was presented before it.
According to him, the tribunal was right in arriving at its decision that the petitioners did not call competent witnesses to substantiate their allegations and even dumped exhibits before the court.
“We should try to protect our own institutions because if we destroy them at some point, we would come back and be needing them.
“I trust that being a sovereign nation, we are not a vassal state to the US and Edo State is not a colony of Washington or the US,” he said.
He said the country and the judiciary would always do what is right.
He advised the Peoples Democratic Party not to be “carried away with what the international community says about our local politics because they are not the judiciary.”
Mayaki acknowledged that though it was within the rights of Ighodalo and PDP to go on appeal against the tribunal’s judgment, he appealed that the petitioners should rather join hands with the governor to move the state forward.
He, however, commended the journalists for their unbiased reportage of the tribunal’s proceedings.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the PDP had welcomed the comment by the US Mission in Nigeria on the election.
The party described it as “a confirmation of the imperfections of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State.”
NAN recalls that the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, had made a statement on the mission’s X handle, few days after the tribunal affirmed the election of Sen. Okpebholo as governor of Edo.
The envoy said: “The U.S. Mission in Nigeria is following the Edo election appeal process closely, particularly given civil society’s concerns about critical issues related to the election, such as ‘serious lapses in the collation process’ that were observed.”
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