President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan declared Monday in Washington DC that
\nthe days when a few politicians, acting in concert with their hirelings
\nand thugs, can hijack voters cards and other electoral materials, and
\nmanipulate the outcome of elections to their personal advantage are gone
\nforever in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a meeting with Nigerian professionals in the United States,
\nPresident Jonathan said that he remained fully committed to keeping the
\npromise he made in 2011 that he will do everything possible to ensure that
\nthe elections in Nigeria become very free, fair and credible.<\/p>\n
The President assured the gathering that in keeping with that pledge which
\nhas been fulfilled in recent elections in Edo, Ondo and Ekiti States, the
\nFederal Government will take all necessary steps to ensure that no
\nindividual, group or political party is able to thwart the legitimate
\nchoice of genuine voters in Saturday’s governorship election in Osun
\nState.<\/p>\n
“The issue of credible elections must be institutionalised in Nigeria. Our
\nelectoral processes were not very good or credible when we came into
\noffice, but as I promised, we have been working very hard to change things
\nand ensure that our elections are more credible, that every legitimate
\nvote counts and that results are acceptable to the electorate.<\/p>\n
“I promise you that the Osun governorship elections will be very free,
\nfair and credible,” President Jonathan told the gathering while responding
\nto questions and comments on topical issues in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Responding to other concerns raised by the Nigerian professionals, the
\nPresident said that the Federal Government will continue to give the
\nhighest possible priority to policies and programmes that will lead to the
\ncreation of enough jobs for Nigerian youth.<\/p>\n
“Job creation is a challenge to every government in the world. We are
\ndoing all that we can to tackle the problem in Nigerian because we know
\nthat we have a very youthful population and if we do not create enough
\njobs to meet their needs, the country will be in trouble,” he said.<\/p>\n
President Jonathan also spoke of his administration’s efforts to improve
\nstandards and access to educational institutions in Nigeria, address the
\nnational housing deficit and further empower women.<\/p>\n
He thanked Nigerian professionals abroad for the patriotic support for his
\ngovernment and urged them to continue to show love and concern for the
\nwell-being of their fatherland.<\/p>\n
“We expect you continue to add more value to what we are doing and we will
\ncontinue to engage your services and expertise when we can, because if we
\ndo not, the valuable education and skills you have acquired will be of no
\nbenefit to the development of our country,” he said.<\/p>\n
The President later received and commended young Nigerians who are
\nparticipating in the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, a
\nleadership programme sponsored by the United States government to train
\nyoung African professionals in American universities, government
\ndepartments and private sector.<\/p>\n
Out of the 500 places on the programme, 45 were won by young Nigerians in
\na competitive selection process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan declared Monday in Washington DC that the days when a few politicians, acting in concert with their hirelings and thugs, can hijack voters cards and other…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n