Pascal Arogorn Ibe
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday reportedly showered praises on the outgoing President of Niger Republic , Mahamadou Issoufou , and the citizens of the country for the peaceful and successful conduct of the presidential and parliamentary elections on December 27.
His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity , Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement titled , “ President Buhari hails Niger Republic ’ s peaceful elections . ”
Shehu quoted Buhari as speaking at an audience with former Vice- President Namadi Sambo , who is the leader of the ECOWAS Electoral Observation Mission, appointed to oversee the elections .
He quoted Buhari as saying that Issoufou deserved to be congratulated on how he organised and conducted the elections .
“ I have been very , very impressed by what I have been seeing and hearing. I will call to congratulate him . Issoufou is going home with honour and grace. All is well that ends well, ” Buhari reportedly said
While noting the smooth and peaceful conduct of the elections in Niger Republic , the President , however , expressed regrets over reported incidents of violence in some other countries in the sub- region.
According to him , “ Seeing how bloody it has been in some other countries, Issoufou must be congratulated on working out this so well so that he will hand over and go quietly. ”
Buhari also praised the work of the ECOWAS Mission to the Niger Republic under Sambo , describing it as very impressive .
In his remarks, the former Vice- President reportedly described the elections as “ successful , free and fair. The elections went well. No incident had created an alarm, ” while expressing the hope that this peaceful conduct will continue.
He also conveyed to Buhari the gratitude of members of the mission for the support given by Nigeria , and the deep appreciation of the government and people of Niger Republic for Nigeria ’ s continuous cooperation, support and encouragement.
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