U.S. seeks dialogue with N’Assembly, guber candidates

Guardian

1 March 2011

U.S. seeks dialogue with N’Assembly, guber candidates

THE United States (U.S.) government has asked for a meeting this week with all Nigerian governors and federal legislators seeking re-election in next month general elections under the auspices of the U.S.-Nigeria Bi-National Commission (BNC).          

According to the U.S. State Department sources, the American government is determined to impress it on the governors and federal legislators that their conduct in the April polls is being closely monitored in Washington DC and other leading western capitals around the world.

Confirming the meeting, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the U.S., Prof. Ade Adefuye, said several Nigerian governors have already accepted the invitation to the meeting with the U.S. officials, which would be led by Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, Mario Otero, who is leading the U.S. delegation for the BNC’s Transparency, Governance and Integrity (TGI) working group meeting in Nigeria this week.

Otero arrived in the country yesterday for the dialogue, which is expected to last till Thursday.

Meanwhile, worried by what it called “frivolous injunctions” being granted by some judges, a civil society organisation, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), yesterday cautioned the Judiciary against derailing the April general elections with such orders.