The United States Consular General in Nigeria, Will Stevens, has said his home government would not approve visa for anyone found culpable of encouraging electoral violence or undermining the process during the 2023 elections.
He spoke at the weekend in Asaba at an OpenGov Town Hall meeting in the Niger Delta region organised under the auspices of the Niger-Delta Open Observatory (NOGO) cluster supported by the USAID Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) project implemented by Palladium during the signing of the Open Government Manifesto by governorship candidates in the state.
While expressing happiness with the Electoral Act which he said has good measures to strengthen voting security, he added that the US government would discourage politicians and other citizens seeking to undermine the electoral process.
Addressing journalists after the event, Stevens said the US was ready to enforce its policy to bar election riggers and those who engineer violence before, during and after the 2023 general elections.
According to him, the US has been working with the Nigerian government as partners to support the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and civil society organisations to enable them hold candidates accountable.
“The US is only interested in a free, fair and credible election that represents the Nigerian people and doesn’t have any preferred candidate or a particular political party in the 2023  general elections,” he said.
Stevens said the US had provided nearly $50 million in technical assistance to the electoral umpire to strengthen mechanisms that will make Nigerians feel comfortable that their votes will count.
He said his mission to Delta State and the Southeast is pre-election monitoring to look and see how things are developing.
“The US does not have a preferred candidate, full stop! We are not interested in a particular party or candidate. What we are interested in is free, fair and credible elections that represent the people.
“These elections are important. Nigeria is the fifth largest democracy in the world so when the people of Nigeria come to vote, you are showing the strength of democracy to the rest of the world,” he added.
He described civil society groups as the muscle and sinews of democracy, stressing that if civil societies are strong that means democracy is functioning.
He said, “We in the United States will discourage any politician, citizen or parties encouraging electoral violence or seeking to undermine the electoral process. One thing we have done in the past and continue to do is that those who seek to undermine the democratic process can and will be found ineligible for visa to the US.” he added.
He expressed excitement on the forthcoming elections, stressing that the consulate was doing all within its powers to understand what is happening and articulate such to US citizens.