Dwindling civic and political space as well as a lack of transparency were among the issues that contributed to a loss of confidence in election processes in Nigeria and other West African nations, according to a UN envoy.
This was said by Leonardo Sima, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Director of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), during a Tuesday briefing to the Security Council at UN HQ in New York.
Prior to any future elections in Mauritania, Sierra Leone, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, and Benin, according to Sima, these issues need to be resolved.
But he praised the nations for adopting democracy.
By giving citizens the chance to select their leaders and representatives at the national and sub-national levels, the envoy said that they had made significant strides towards the consolidation of democracy.
Sima pleaded with the ambassadors to make the “utmost attention” to the situation in Mali, where the mandate of the UN’s peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA, was terminated by the Security Council last month.
“The situation in Mali continues to require our utmost attention. In anticipation of a detailed plan, UNOWAS will play its role liaising intensively with ECOWAS and other partners as the mission is set to draw down until the end of the year,” Sima stated that he will be visiting the nation soon.
According to MINUSMA, the mission’s presence has grown to over 15,000 people as of February 2023, four years after the Council established it following a coup.
cc: Vanguard Ng
