/A COMMUNIQE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS CONFERENCE BY COALITION OF NIGERIANS LIVING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

A COMMUNIQE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS CONFERENCE BY COALITION OF NIGERIANS LIVING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

THEME: NIGERIA ON TRIAL – DOES DEMOCRACY MATTER?

As Nigerians in the United Kingdom who desire a better society with Justice, Peace and Sustainable Development, we decided to host this Press conference with a singular purpose – to deepen true democracy that guarantees stability in our dear country.

As we all know, our people have been through a most frustrating 8 years under this outgoing administration that brought us to globally embarrassing rankings in corruption, out of school children, insecurity, and poverty.

These are not because Nigerians are not smart nor lack the human resources to change this narrative, but because Nigerians were not really allowed to decide in real terms, those who run the affairs of the country.

Our sons and daughters are making waves in the UK, Europe, USA and other parts of the world in different careers. These are on record.

And for this narrative to change, we needed to resolve the leadership challenge through the elections by participating in the process and ensure the best candidate emerged, to lead our great country through the path of recovery, progress and sustainability.

The process that would produce this new leader would determine whether we would get it right or just have the old tunes played again.

However, the promise by INEC the electoral umpire gave hope to Nigerians and the consequences of this guaranteed process are the focal points of this press conference.

The Coalition of Nigerians Living in the United is made up of highly patriotic Nigerians of different fields of endeavour whose commitment to a peaceful and progressive country remain paramount in their hearts.

The Coalition therefore wishes to say in clear terms that.

  1. That Nigerians are deeply saddened by the outcomes of the 2023 Presidential elections.  Especially the Violence, Xenophobia and ballot box destruction and snatching of same in the full glare of security personnel, which resulted in serious injuries and deaths. This must not be condoned in future elections

 

  1. The guarantees of INEC in the run up to the 2023 elections created the needed enthusiasm to deepen democracy and producing leaders through a credible process.

 

  1. That in line with the international observers and also the British Ambassador to Nigeria, Catriona Laing that INEC failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians with respect to the promises of the Process of the elections, the Coalition therefore calls on INEC to ensure that they recover the faith and trust of Nigeria by sticking to her own guidelines.

 

  1. That we desire a country that operates on the foundations of rule of law and justice; therefore, we call for investigations into the ethnic targeted violence and Xenophobia that took place in Lagos and perpetrators brought to book as a deterrent to such ugly incidents.

 

  1. That even as the Nigeria Judiciary has been under scrutiny going by unconventional judgements from the revered arm of government, we have absolute faith in the Nigeria Judiciary that justice will be served based on facts.

5b.

The existence of the judiciary and the armed forces are not subject to constitutional interpretation.

 

Therefore, the election of the president cannot be subject to interpretation either but must be strictly provided for by the law and as interpreted by the same constitution

 

  1. That we join our voices to demand that the proceedings of the Electoral Petitions Tribunal be transmitted live to ensure transparency and send a message of hope to Nigerians whose mandate and future are at stake.

 

  1. We call on all friends of Nigeria to stand with our people in support of a peaceful resolution of the election cases for justice to be served.

 

  1. In same vein, we call on Nigerians to continue to be law abiding and be pray for our Judiciary who are facing a most challenging period in our democracy to have the courage to deliver justice that Nigerians desire.

 

We are unwavering in our belief that is New Nigeria is Possible.

Long live Nigeria

Long live the United Kingdom

Signed

The Coalition of Nigerians Living in the United Kingdom

15 May 2023