Former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn will lead an African Union (AU) election observation mission in Nigeria’s upcoming general elections, an AU official said Saturday.Addressing a press conference at the AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs Minata Samate Cessouma said Hailemariam will head an AU election observation mission to observe the general elections in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation. “Nigeria is a very important country for the whole of Africa, in terms of population and economy. We don’t need any conflict resulting from the election. All partners including the AU will work together to ensure free, fair and democratic elections are held in Nigeria,” Cessouma was quoted by Xinhua as saying yesterday. Nigeria will hold this year’s general elections on February 16 to elect the president and national assembly members, and on March 2 to elect state governors and state houses of assembly members.

Source: Ethiopian News February 09, 2019 22:07 UTC