• Super Admin
• 07 Mar, 2026

...Cautions On Foreign Collaboration On Security ®*Tinubu In The Mould Of Awolowo -- Presidency ABEOKUTA - A former Secretary-Gen­eral of the Common­wealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anya­oku has warned that the inter­national community will closely scrutinise Nigeria's 2027 general elections, urging the authorities to ensure that the polls are cred­ible and transparent. Speaking as the Chairman of the 2026 Obafemi Awolowo Me­morial Lecture held in Ikenne, Ogun State, the elder statesman said growing political attention on the next elections and the country's worsening insecurity were among the major challeng­es facing Nigeria today. Commenting on the 2027 polls, Anyaoku called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the gov­ernment to ensure that the elec­toral process commands public confidence, particularly follow­ing the controversy surround­ing the electronic transmission of results to the IREV portal in previous elections. "The international commu­nity will be closely watching the political party campaigns, the processes and the actual conduct of the elections," he said. According to him, the credi­bility of the elections would be assessed beyond Nigeria's bor­ders. "The results of the elections will be assessed for their fair­ness and credibility by other countries, including in partic­ular those that have diplomatic representation in Nigeria," he added. On the issue of insecurity, Anyaoku said the Federal Gov­ernment was justified in seeking international collaboration to tackle persistent kidnappings, killings and displacement of communities across several states. After over a decade of inabil­ity to arrest the kidnappings, the abductions, the killings and the growing populations of people forcefully displaced from their ancestral lands and farms, the Federal Government is right to seek collaboration with friendly countries," he said, while cau­tioning that such partnerships "should remain mindful of the need to respect the sovereignty of Nigeria." Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Health, Dr Iziak Salako has said Nigeria currently has a leader in the mould of the late nationalist Obafemi Awolowo, noting that the reforms being implemented by Bola Ahmed Tinubu are already steering the country toward economic recovery. Salako represented President Tinubu at the event. Delivering the president's remarks, the minister described Awolowo as a pioneering nation­alist, federalist and visionary leader whose policies on educa­tion, healthcare and infrastruc­ture transformed the old West­ern Region and laid a foundation that still shapes the development trajectory of the South-West. He noted that Awolowo's in­troduction of universal basic education in the Western Region in 1955, though initially resisted by colonial authorities and some parents, later became a defining policy that produced generations of educated citizens. Salako also recalled that the late sage's leadership of the Uni­ty Party of Nigeria between 1979 and 1983 led to the implementa­tion of the party's four cardinal programmes of free education, free healthcare, rural devel­opment and full employment across several states, setting governance benchmarks that remain influential today. Source: https://independent.ng/anyaoku-warns-international-community-will-closely-monitor-2027-elections-at-awolowo-lecture/