American lawmaker, Chris Smith, has advised that, at the minimum, the 2019 presidential election must meet the 2015 standards. Smith said the standard of the 2015 presidential election led to peaceful transfer of power, while a statement by the then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan averted bloodshed. Smith, who was the immediate past chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, issued the statement on Monday. Entitled, ‘On the Postponement of Elections in Nigeria,’ Smith writes:“Responsibility for the delay of Nigeria’s presidential election lays squarely with President Muhammadu Buhari and those close to him. “More than ‘unfortunately-timed,’ that statement accepting electoral fraud in the DRC sent a negative message throughout sub-Saharan Africa,” Smith said.

Source: Punch February 19, 2019 13:34 UTC