{"id":15324,"date":"2019-02-13T11:44:30","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T11:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=15324"},"modified":"2019-02-13T11:44:30","modified_gmt":"2019-02-13T11:44:30","slug":"us-to-buhari-campaign-we-are-not-partisan-and-nigerias-election-important-to-neighbours-and-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=15324","title":{"rendered":"US to Buhari Campaign: We are not partisan (and) Nigeria’s election important to neighbours and friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ambassador W. Stuart Symington<\/strong>, U.S. ambassador to Nigeria
\nThe United States Embassy in Nigeria wishes to reiterate unequivocally that we are not taking sides in Nigeria\u2019s election.\u00a0\u00a0 We do not support any party or candidate.\u00a0\u00a0 We support a level playing field and the democratic process.\u00a0 That is the bedrock principle of our Government\u2019s advocacy on democratic elections.\u00a0\u00a0 In the final run-up to the Feb. 16 vote, fake news and rumors are operating in overdrive.\u00a0\u00a0 But it must be repeated:\u00a0 we are not taking sides.
\nThis is Nigeria\u2019s election and the citizens of Nigeria will decide who will lead their nation. It is important for the future of every Nigerian and it is important that every Nigerian contribute to making it a democratic, peaceful, free and fair process. This will ensure that all Nigerians see the results as credible, and they accept them. This will empower Nigeria\u2019s democracy going forward, as did the elections of 2015.
\nEvery Nigerian citizen is vital to the success of this election.\u00a0 Each person is responsible for his or her own actions and words, and all must be held accountable: first by their own conscience, then under God, then in accord with the laws of Nigeria and in the court of Nigerian public opinion, and also in the eyes of the world.
\nThe United States is Nigeria\u2019s long-term and enduring friend.\u00a0\u00a0 We provide more than $1 billion in assistance and help save more than 2 million lives of Nigerians each year through our health and humanitarian assistance.\u00a0\u00a0 This will not change.\u00a0\u00a0 We are Nigeria\u2019s good partner, and this will continue after this democratic election \u2013 no matter who wins.
\n

\"\"
Ambassador Symington<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThis election is Nigeria\u2019s, but it is also important for Nigeria\u2019s neighbors and for the world.\u00a0 Nigeria has long played a great leadership role in the region and beyond as a force for democratic stability. The credible electoral results of 2015 empowered Nigeria to play that role. The United States looks forward to a similar result this week.
\nWe support the democratic process and the work of the Independent National Electoral Commission in managing the elections.\u00a0 We call on every Nigerian citizen, official, party member, and the security forces to peacefully support Nigeria\u2019s democratic process in accordance with Nigerian law.
\nThe United States welcomed the signing of Peace Accords by the candidates for President and other offices.\u00a0 Now is the time to grow that peace by ensuring all get the message and put it into action so that both the voting and the aftermath are peaceful and fully respect the democratic process.\u00a0 Peace benefits all Nigerians and peace is the responsibility of every citizen as you work together to ensure your elections are free, fair, transparent, and credible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ambassador W. Stuart Symington, U.S. ambassador to Nigeria The United States Embassy in Nigeria wishes to reiterate unequivocally that we are not taking sides in Nigeria\u2019s election.\u00a0\u00a0 We do not support any party or candidate.\u00a0\u00a0 We support a level playing field and the democratic process.\u00a0 That is the bedrock principle of our Government\u2019s advocacy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}