From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is leading a team of the West African Elders’ Forum (WAEF) deployed as a pre-election fact-finding mission to Sierra Leone, ahead of the country’s general elections scheduled for June, 2023.
The team which also has former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President of The Gambia Fatoumata Tambajang as members would be interfacing with major political leaders and other key stakeholders in Sierra Leone as a means of deepening the confidence and trust of the citizens in the electoral process.
The Communications Officer of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Mr Wealth Dickson Ominabo in a statement stated that the two-day mission is in support of inclusive and peaceful general elections.
According to him, members of the Missions would hold consultations with the country’s political actors and stakeholders, including the civil society and the Diplomatic Corps, the Electoral Management Bodies and Agencies in a bid to ascertain the level of preparedness towards conducting free, fair and credible elections.
He stressed that the Mission to Sierra Leone is in line with the WAEF objective of promoting preventive diplomacy as a means of reducing electoral-related tension and violence in Africa.
“WAEF was founded in 2020 to promote peace, democracy and good governance, and has carried out preventive diplomacy missions to many countries including Gambia and Nigeria. Beyond its engagements in Sierra Leone, WAEF is scheduled to carry out a similar mission to Liberia, two nations that hold general elections in 2023.
“Soon after Nigeria’s February 25, 2023, Presidential and National Assembly elections in Nigeria, WAEF deployed a team of former Presidents to hold consultations with some of the presidential candidates and other key stakeholders, taking to them the message of peace in order to ensure that there was no post-election violence in the country.
Sierra Leone’s 2023 elections will be the country’s sixth democratic election and the fifth since the end of the civil war in 2002.”