Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

West Africa and Sahel

Jonathan leads West African elders for peace mission ahead of election in Senegal

Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan has led the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) to Senegal on a mediation mission ahead of the country’s presidential election on Saturday.

This is contained in a statement signed and issued in Yenagoa on Thursday by the Communications Officer of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Mr Wealth Ominabo.

According to the statement, Jonathan, who also is the chairperson of WAEF, and other members of the forum left Abuja for Dakar on Thursday.

They would be expected to be there till Wednesday.

The statement named Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, former Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, as a member of the team.

According to the statement, the team will meet with key stakeholders, including outgoing President Macky Sall, opposition leaders, civil societies, security authorities, and the country’s electoral commission.

The statement noted that the Executive Director of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation and Head of the WAEF Secretariat, Ms Ann Iyonu, said WAEF was a “forum primed for mediation”.

According to Iyonu, the forum expects to perform advisory and conflict resolution roles to ensure election-related conflicts are reduced to the barest minimum in the West Africa sub-region.

She described the forum as a composition of former presidents and statesmen who had volunteered to deploy their enormous leadership experience and wisdom toward promoting peace and progress in the sub-region.

Iyonu, in the statement, said while in Dakar, the forum would observe electoral processes and continue to engage political leaders and other stakeholders until the election was peacefully and successfully concluded.

“WAEF, going by this mandate, had played similar roles during elections in The Gambia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Liberia,” says Iyonu via the statement.

You May Also Like

Africa

Mali is among the countries currently suffering extreme heat with some areas hit by a temperature of 48,5°C, has recorded more than 100 deaths,...

Africa

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), energy giant, has decided to sell its Nigerian onshore oil and gas assets to Renaissance Oil, an indigenous company...

Africa

The leader of the coalition group of all ‘jihadist’ groups taking shelter in their hideouts along the Saharan countries ‘Jama’at Nusratil islam Wal Muslimeen’...

Africa

Photo: Nigeria’s first private and Africa’s largest petroleum refinery begins production and expected to save Nigeria from dependence on imports. Photo from Dangote Group...