Gerald Connolly, an American Congressman has said the elections in Nigeria were not credible describing the process as a sham following alleged manipulations.
The Democratic congressman and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee stated this at an interactive session yesterday when constituents from Virginia who paid him a visit on Capitol Hill, asked questions about Nigeria and Venezuela.
Connolly made the remarks about Nigeria’s elections when he was responding to a question from international human rights lawyer, Emmanuel Ogebe who asked what the US was doing about ISIS relocation to Nigeria where they abducted Leah Sharibu and the recent presidential elections.
Congressman Connolly said that many observers agree that the Nigerian elections were not credible.
He said that the US must do more and wasn’t doing enough as a beacon of democracy and human rights.
“There were a lot of observers who would agree with you that the recent presidential/National Assembly elections were a sham and were not honest and did not produce legitimate results. Are there enough people who care about that to speak out? …We have to do a better job of paying much more attention to Africa… Africa is going to be the continent of the future.”
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He lamented the activities of Boko Haram, Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups on the African continent and said the US was not paying adequate attention to Africa.
He also raised concerns on growing Chinese influence in the region.
Responding to another question, he said: “Elections are being stolen in Nigeria”.
