The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), 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.