British high commissioner to Nigeria Catriona Laing has said that the outcome of the 2023 general election is important to the state of Democracy on the whole African continent.
The Nigerian general election will be conducted on February 18 next year, with the winners being inaugurated on May 29.
“For Nigeria, Africa and the world, the outcome and the conduct of the 2023 elections is important,” Ms Laing said.
Speaking at The Convergence 3.0 while addressing over 200 young political office hopefuls, Ms Laing also called on political parties to gather more youth and women members as it would encourage greater participation from the groups in politics and governance.
“One real positive thing about Nigeria is the state of its democracy since 1999, though it has been a little bit of a murky road, you are stuck with it,” Ms Laing continued.
“The world will be looking at the 2023 elections. Will it be relatively secure, will it be conducted relatively well and will the outcome be the one that the people believe in?”
The British envoy also used the opportunity to apologise to the people of Nigeria regarding the current travel ban imposed on travellers going to the United Kingdom from Nigeria, claiming the restrictions were necessary due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in Nigeria.
“We all just have to recognise and come into terms with this thing so that we can live with it,” she said.
