Buhari Pledges to Peaceful Atmosphere for the 2023 General Elections

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday has reiterated his commitment to ensuring Nigerians vote in a peaceful atmosphere in the forthcoming general elections.

In a statement themed ‘Enabling Customs in Fragile and Conflict Affected Situations’ signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina while receiving the Secretary-General, World Customs Organization, Dr Kunio Mikuriya, at the State House, Abuja.Mikuriya is in Nigeria for a Global Conference on Fragile Borders.

President Buhari said, “I have made it a cardinal commitment to ensure each Nigerian is able to exercise their franchise by participating in a free and fair election… it is our objective to ensure this takes place in a peaceful and conducive atmosphere”

Commending Mikuriya for his fourth visit to Nigeria, Buhari said his latest appearance comes when the electorate goes to the polls.

He said, “I have made it a cardinal commitment to ensure each Nigerian is able to exercise their franchise by participating in a free and fair election, in true practice of our relatively nascent democracy.

“It is our objective to ensure this takes place in a peaceful and conducive atmosphere, despite all the usual excitement and gamesmanship that is known to occur during election campaigning.”

Buhari also lamented that the porous borders of many African states and the attendant proliferation of illicit arms were fuelling economic sabotage and prolonging the fight against terrorism.

He argued that Nigeria and her neighbours must place a higher premium on the effective policing of borders, as the fragile nature of entry points into various countries enhances terrorism.

“In fact, it is quite frankly the singular most concerning sub-issue in our national security agenda. The fragility of our borders has been a major Achilles heel in our fight against terrorism, economic sabotage and illicit flow of small and light weapons,” Buhari remarked.

Dr Mikuriya, who thanked Nigeria for hosting the three-day conference, described the WCO as a 184-member worldwide organisation in which Nigeria plays an active and vibrant role.

He said Customs services must now go beyond mere revenue generation and delve into security, as “without security at the borders, we cannot effectively collect revenue.”

Mikuriya lamented that Customs officials were often targets of terrorists and armed groups, “and so we need to have collaboration with other security agencies, share intelligence, and deploy technology.”