The U.S. Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry, on Sunday held separate meetings with President Goodluck Jonathan who is also the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Muhammadu Buhari the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to sources, the meeting was convened to discuss the growing violence in the country ahead of the February elections aamong other issues.
The violence is already creating fear among Nigerians.
While Jonathan was pelted with stones in some parts of the north, former militants in the Niger-Delta area of the country have also threatened to go to war if Jonathan, their kinsman, is defeated at the polls.
Such violence have also been recorded in Lagos, Cross River, Akwa-Ibom and Rivers where the supposed campaign venue for the APC was bombed days ago.
This is in spite of the no-violence pact signed by the two actors in the election.
It was learnt that Kerry had earlier met with Jonathan. The meeting with Buhari and his team which include Bola Tinubu and Governor Rotimi Amaechi was still holding at the time of this report.
At the meeting with General Buhari in the Ikoyi area of Lagos, Kerry said United States President, Barrack Obama, was interested in Nigeria and concerned with the situation since the country is the largest economy in Africa.
He particularly lamented the security situation of the country following the threat by Boko Haram.
He expressed optimism that the US would support Nigeria’s election.
Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, had weeks ago visited the country and extracted the agreement on peaceful elections from Jonathan and Buhari.
In a statement released by the presidency after Jonathan’s meeting with Kerry, Jonathan expressed pleasure to welcome Secretary to Nigeria.
He said he had a candid and constructive discussion about a broad range of issues with the Kerry, mentioning Nigeria’s vibrant democracy and its more than $18 billion bilateral trade relationship with the US as part of the subject of discussion.
“Our countries and peoples share a mutual admiration for each other and a deep commitment to freedom, democracy, and human rights,” Jonathan said in the statement.
“This is why we are together engaged in a struggle against a common enemy that promotes terror, fear, division, and violates human rights, most especially of women and girls, with complete impunity. Winning the fight against Boko Haram in Nigeria and West Africa is absolutely essential to beat back the tide of religious extremism around the world.
Our security forces have been working tirelessly and courageously to achieve this goal. I reaffirmed for Secretary Kerry that Nigeria is strongly committed to building the multinational task force to fight Boko Haram in partnership with Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin Republic under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. Indeed, I called publicly for such a regional approach at the African leaders summit in Paris in May 2014 and more recently in multilateral meetings.”
He said the country is pleased that the international community is now strongly united behind the initiative and have agreed that its success is critical.
“It is equally important that the multinational force receives the significant support that is required to address the threat through our global partners,” he said.
“The United States, more than any other country in the world, has the most experience fighting armed insurgencies. And having suffered the devastating attacks of 9/11, its people also understand the insecurity and fear that is the reality for the vast majority of peaceful, tolerant Muslims and Christians in North Eastern Nigeria.
This is why I firmly believe that enhancing and expanding various channels of cooperation between our two countries, in the context of growing international coordination, are of the utmost importance. I discussed a number of ideas with Secretary Kerry to move such cooperation forward.”
He expressed appreciation to the United States for standing with Nigeria and its people in the fight against Boko Haram.
“I reaffirmed our strong commitment to working together with the United States to put an end to global terrorism and particularly Boko Haram. Nigeria will also work to deepen and consolidate our bilateral relationship with the United States,” Jonathan said.
“I emphasised to Secretary Kerry that I am deeply committed to ensuring that our forthcoming election is free, fair, and credible. It is especially critical that all political parties abide by the Abuja Accord, which commits each to non-violence before, during, and after the election.
I made it absolutely clear that the May 29th handover date is sacrosanct. In addition, the Government will provide all resources that are required by the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure that the election goes smoothly. I also emphasized that INEC is an independent body, which makes its own decisions without any interference from the Government.”
