What US Secretatry Of State John Kerry Told Jonathan, Buhari About The Election

The United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, has advised Nigerian
politicians to work towards ensuring a peaceful and violence-free
February general elections.

Kerry gave the advice at a news conference in Lagos, on Sunday, at the
end of a closed-door meeting he held with the presidential candidates
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Goodluck Jonathan and
his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Muhammadu Buhari.

"The US government strongly believes in Nigeria having credible, free
and fair elections next month," Kerry said, adding that his country
and the international community were keenly interested in the conduct
of next month's election.

Kerry, while stressing the need for politicians and Nigerians at
large, to eschew violence before, during and after the election, said:
"We want to say that any Nigerian who promotes any form of violence
during the elections remains ineligible for US visa."

The US Secretary stated that President Barack Obama specifically sent
him to meet with Jonathan and Buhari, to discuss how to ensure a
violence-free election.

Just as he discussed how to ensure violence-fee elections and ending
insurgency with Jonathan, at the meeting with Buhari, at his Ikoyi,
Lagos residence, the duo, with other chieftains of APC in attendance,
spoke on the need for free and fair election in February.

The national chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun; US Ambassador
to Nigeria, James F. Entwistle; national leader of APC, Senator Bola
Tinubu and Rivers State governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi were all present
at the meeting.
--Tribune