The African Union has appointed former Kenya's president, uhuru kenyatta, to lead its team of observers in overseeing Nigeria's presidential elections this month.
This appointment will become former president uhuru Kenyatta's second senor post since vacating office in 2022. late last year, he was appointed to head the East Africa Community (EAC) region peace talks.
The African Union announced the appointment on Tuesday, as it launched the African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) in preparation for the country's election on February 25. The AUEOM will meet with various stakeholders and monitor the voting process ahead of the election before issuing its preliminary statement on February 27 in Abuja.
The 90 members of the African Union Commission (AUC) come from AU member countries, according to the AUC.
They include members of electoral management bodies and civil society organizations, independent experts, women and youth, and representatives from AU organs such as the Pan African Parliament and the Permanent Representatives Committee.
Its goals involve providing an accurate and unbiased assessment of the electoral process, including how well the country conducts its elections compared to regional, continental, and international standards for democratic elections.
Based on the findings, it will also make recommendations for future elections and demonstrate the AU's support and solidarity for advancing democracy, peace, stability, and development in Nigeria.
This election will be Nigeria's most contested election. Some of the significant vital contestants include Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). one of them will be taking over the country whose economy is on the verge of collapse, and insecurity is through the roof.
Buhari is completing his second term in office and has promised to leave the country in a better place than it was when he took over as the president.