2015 Elections will Be Violence-free, Says Uduaghan

Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan,   has assured Nigerians that   the 2015 general election will be free, fair and devoid of violence.

Uduaghan, who gave the assurance yesterday in Asaba when he received the United States  Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle and his team said:
“The  2015 general election will be devoid of violence as only popular candidates selected by the grassroots in a free and fair manner will run for the elections.

“If a popular candidate acceptable to the people at the grassroots is chosen, there will be no violence as it happened at the recently concluded election in Ekiti State,” the governor emphasised.

While promising that elections in the state would be free and fair and devoid of rancour, the governor reiterated his determination to ensure that  in  the forthcoming local government election  there would be a level playing ground for all  candidates

He said: “I have insist in the forth coming local government elections in the state that the grassroots will elect the people they want, no candidate would be impose on the people so as to have a free and fair election devoid of any violence.”  

Uduaghan called on the international communities to assist Nigeria in curbing oil theft and terrorism in some parts of the country through monitoring and intelligence gathering and sharing,  stating that “terrorism is an international challenge and must be handled through international cooperation”

He explained that the state had a cordial relationship with the United States especially at sub-national level in the areas of health, engineering and environment, disclosing that some of the state’s workers had just returned from Pensylvania  after their training on transport engineering.

In a brief remark, the US envoy said they were in the state to explore new avenue of partnership and areas of development as part of the United States’ commitment to improving existing relationship with Nigeria.
While commending the peaceful conduct of elections in Ekiti State, Entwistle charged politicians to   play according to the rule and avoid violence in the countdown to the 2015 elections, promising the cooperation and support of the US in this direction.

The ambassador condemned the activities of Boko Haram in the country and said the US was working closely with Nigeria to tackle the issue of terrorism.