From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has pleaded with the United Nations (UN) and the international community, to support the peace-building and reconstruction of Borno State and other parts of the country adversely affected by insurgency and other forms of unrest and insecurity.
National Chairman of the party Abdullahi Adamu made the appeal when Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) of the UN and Head of the UN Office for West and Sahel, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, visited the national leadership of the party on Monday.
Represented by the APC National Deputy Chairman (North), Abubakar Kyari, the ruling party pledged commitment to the ideals of democratic governance and observance of rule of law in all its undertakings ahead of the 2023 general elections.
“The party calls for a concerted effort on the part of the UN and the rest of the international community to support the process of peace-building and reconstruction in Borno State and other parts of Nigeria that have been adversely affected by insurgency and other forms of unrest and insecurity.
“The party also notes the work of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General as encompassing various elements of the United Nations mandate, especially in areas such as achieving sustainable development in accordance with the principles of the Sustainable Development Goals or Agenda 2030.
“This is a critical vehicle towards the achievement of various other human development targets and goals including peace and security, addressing the impacts of climate change in Africa, especially in the Sahel region and the Lake Chad Basin, advancing the rights of women and young people, combating desertification, and preventing illegal migration from West Africa to other parts of the world.
“We commend the SRSG for his work in all these areas particularly in addressing the subject of women, peace and security in West Africa and the Sahel region where women have been exposed to egregious violence and human rights abuses of various sorts,” the ruling boss noted.
On the preparations for the general elections, the APC leadership, said: “We wish to inform the SRSG that the APC is poised to go into the general elections in the country with a commitment to observing the rule of law and intend to participate peacefully. Bring the ruling party and one with the largest number of registered members numbering 43 million people, the APC has every stake in the orderly and peaceful conduct of the elections across Nigeria.
“The APC considers the gubernatorial election that recently took place in Ekiti State as a referendum and a vote of confidence in the Party and a pointer to 2023 when the Party hopes to form the government in the centre and also in most of the states across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
“The APC to assures the entire UN body through the SRSG that the APC is committed to the ideals of democratic governance and observance of rule of law in all its undertakings, and shall continue to apply them diligently while canvassing for votes and while it forms the next national government in 2023.
“APC is pleased to inform you of the progress made in Nigeria, especially in the area of infrastructure development since the APC came into power in 2015. He should reaffirm the commitment of the Party to take Nigeria to higher levels of material and cultural development in the coming years particularly by the holistic implementation of the UN SDGs as well as the African Union Agenda 2063 and the AU Programme of Infrastructure Development (PIDA).
“The party reiterates the commitment of Nigeria to recharging of the Lake Chad as an urgent priority for the members of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) which includes Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. He should also reiterate Nigeria’s desire to reinforce the LCBC Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) towards combatting terrorism and other forms of international crime across our common borders.
“The APC looks forward to further deepening of cooperation between the Office of the SRSG and the APC in all matters of governance towards advancement of ECOWAS, African Union and United Nations best practices,” he appealed.
Earlier, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, who led an 8-member delegation, stated: “We met this morning with officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and we plan to meet with all the key actors in Nigeria with a very simple message. We will like to see the coming elections going peacefully and accepted in all parts of Nigerians. With the APC in power, you have a very important role to play. We will like to emphasize that the UN is with you and supporting you.
“As I like to say, when Nigeria sneezes, the entire region catches cold. So we like and hope that Nigeria stays in good health and be the locomotive for other regions and this is why we will expect the APC to support peaceful elections. Thank you very much for welcoming our delegation and we hope to come back to celebrate the peaceful elections.”
