Nigeria: Jonathan, Other African Leaders to Observe Sierra Leone Polls

22 June 2023
Leadership (Abuja)
By Chibuzo Ukaibe

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said the West Africa Elders Forum (WAEF) will work with other stakeholders in Sierra Leone to ensure the election which will be held this weekend is peaceful and credible.

Jonathan stated this on his twitter handle shortly after he arrived in Freetown, the capital of the West African country.

WAEF consists of former leaders and statesmen who will provide mediation and interlocutory roles in addressing electoral and democratic conflict in the region. The forum was officially inaugurated on March 4, 2021.

Sierra Leoneans are heading to the polls on Saturday, June 24, to select their next president, amid mounting frustration due to an ailing economy and rising unemployment.

Thirteen people are vying for the top job in the west African country. But experts say it's likely to be a two-horse race between incumbent President Julius Maada Bio -- elected in 2018 and fighting for his second term -- and Samura Kamara, the head of the All People's Congress Party, Sierra Leon's main opposition camp.

The winner needs 55% of the vote to clinch victory in the first round or it goes into a runoff within two weeks.

More than three million people are registered to vote in the coming week. This would mark the country's fifth presidential election since the end of a brutal 11-year civil war -- more than two decades ago -- which left tens of thousands dead and destroyed the country's economy.

Violence broke out around Sierra Leone's main opposition party headquarters on Wednesday, killing at least one person, days before an election in which President Julius Maada Bio is seeking a second and final term.

However, Jonathan said "Just arrived in Freetown, where I am leading the team from the West Africa Elders Forum (WAEF) Election Mission to Sierra Leone ahead of the country's general elections scheduled for this weekend.

"WEAF will work with other stakeholders here to help encourage and support a peaceful and credible poll.

"I thank the Government and the people of Sierra Leone and staff of the Nigeria High Commission in Freetown for their warm reception," he said.

Read the original article on Leadership.

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