The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, has said that the United Kingdom Government is hopeful that President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the amended electoral act into law.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a civil society, YIAGA Convergence, the British envoy said she was in Zimbabwe where she observed elections and had also recognised how powerful the civil society could be
Laing averred that the world was watching to see if the 2023 election in Nigeria would be secured and conducted “relatively well”, and if the electorate would accept the results and rally round the new leadership.
She said, “We honestly really believe for Nigeria, for Africa, for the world that the outcome of this election and the conduct of this election is massively important.
“It has been a little bit of a rocky road for Nigerian democracy since 1999 but the country has stuck with it.
“Speaking for my government and the new US administration, we are very conscious; we need to build a coalition of democracies.”
Laing further added that they were hopeful the Independent National Electoral Commission would deliver “a good election and the Electoral Act, hopefully, will be passed soon by the President for the electronic transmission of votes”.
She, however, reiterated that the electorate needed to register to participate in the election.
There have been calls on Buhari by various civil society groups to sign the electoral bill into law, even as it seemed the President was weighing his options and those of his political party and associates before passing the law.