The United States has expressed its pleasure at seeing Nigerians exercise their right to choose their leaders in the April 9 National Assembly election, just as it said that the National Assembly election held last weekend across the country is only the first of three important electoral contests over the next several weeks.The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Johnnie Carso, stated this in a press statement made available to the Nigerian Tribune on Monday from the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Consulate Generals office, Lagos.He said, we hope that the general success achieved in this first round will carry over to the next two elections and that technical and security shortcomings in the first round will lead to improvements over the next two weeks.The U.S. official stated further the his home country was particularly encouraged by the overall progress toward democracy demonstrated by Saturdays election in Nigeria, despite perceived violence and some alleged organisational issues.Nigerian voters, according to him, enthusiastically went to the polls last Saturday, convinced that they had a say in choosing their political leaders and returned home believing their votes would be fairly counted, stressing that this was an important achievement for Nigerian democracy. Speaking further, Carson however noted that at the same time, we deplore the violence and needless loss of lives in Suleja, Borno State, and elsewhere in the country, including thuggery in some areas of Lagos. Political intimidation has no place in any democracy, including that of Nigeria, and Nigerians should know that the U.S. will take due note of anyone condoning or supporting such acts.We hope that the vote tabulation and announcement of results will proceed in a transparent fashion and that candidates will accept the judgments of voters given via the ballot box. The Nigerian Government should hold accountable all those who engage in electoral malfeasancethe U.S. certainly will.He therefore, encouraged all voters to participate in the presidential and gubernatorial elections as a demonstration of voter confidence in the electoral process, saying that both the international and domestic observers continued to see instances of under-age voting and expressed the hope that INEC and its team of elections officials would address this along with other technical and administrative irregularities in the coming weeks as Professor Jega has promised.Finally, he said, the United States applauds the work of INEC and its Chair Professor Attahiru Jega, on their management of the electoral process. We have been most impressed with the dedicated work of the Nigerian Youth Service Corps who spent long hours under the hot sun alongside patient voters to permit voters to exercise their right to vote. Such dedication by Nigerias youth is to be commended and is a cause for real optimism in the countrys future.
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