.We’ll support free, credible polls
By Ola Kay
The British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Gill Lever, has stated categorically that her home country does not have any preferred candidate in Nigeria’s 2027 general elections and neither does it intend to interfere in the exercise.
The deputy British High Commissioner who was on a three-day official visit to Kwara State said that the British government would only be interested in free, peaceful, and credible elections.
She stated this in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on the sidelines of a courtesy visit to the governor and Chairman, Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum (NGF), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, at the Government House.
Lever stressed that the British Government would support free, peaceful, and credible elections in Nigeria come February 2027, with assurance that Downing Street has no favourite political party and will not be seen meddling in local political matters.
She said: “The British Government would support a free, peaceful, and credible election in Nigeria next year.
“Downing Street has no favourite political party and will not be seen interfering in local political matters.
“We all want to see elections that are peaceful, that are inclusive, and that are credible, with space for participation and with respect for institutions.”
“We all want to see elections that are peaceful, that are inclusive, and that are credible, with space for participation and with respect for institutions.”
She added again that, “The British government, as you’ll understand, Excellency, is entirely neutral. We do not favour one party or another, and we would never be in the business of telling Nigerian people how to vote.
“But peaceful and credible elections, of course, are not only a democratic objective. This is not only about the Commonwealth values and the values of democracy that we’ve long shared; they’re also an economic objective or imperative as well.”
The state governor, AbdulRazaq, in his remarks said that his administration has made significant progress in diverse sectors of the state economy.
The governor said: “We have made significant progress in different sectors of the economy: from health, education, agriculture, and road infrastructure. When we came in 2019, things just weren’t working in the state.
“From backlogs of pensions and gratuities to payment of half-salaries to the blacklist of Kwara by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC),” he said, countering earlier narratives by some opposition elements.
“When we came in, 99% of schools did not have WASH facilities and no fencing of schools; teachers were, in fact, owed months in salary arrears. Today, we are up-to-date in investment in basic education with payment of counterpart funds to the UBEC.”
The team also visited the state first lady, Okufolake AbdulRazaq in her office.
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