Ahead of Nigeria's elections on Saturday, February
16, the Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF) has disclosed that its 2019 Annual
Lecture, would feature keynote addresses on credible and fair elections.
The annual lecture in memory of the former Head of
State, Late General Murtala Muhammed, is scheduled to hold on Thursday,
February 14, 2019 in Abuja with the duo of Prof. Chidi Odinkalu and Ms. Ayo Obe
speaking on the theme: “Towards Credible, Peaceful and Participatory Elections:
Moving Nigeria’s Democracy Forward”.
Chief Executive Officer of MMF, Mrs Aisha
Muhammed-Oyebode, in a statement, said the Emir of Kano, His HRH Muhammadu
Sanusi II, will also present goodwill remarks at the event.
Muhammed-Oyebode added that there would also be
goodwill messages from representatives of key observer missions to Nigeria
including: Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, the Representative of the
Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the
Sahel (UNOWAS); H.E Dr. Jakaya Kikwete, President of Tanzania (2005-2015)
and Head of African Union Election Observer Team to Nigeria.
Others are H.E Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of
the Republic of Liberia (2006-2018) and Chairperson of the Authority of Heads
of States and Governments of ECOWAS; and H.E Festus Mogae, former President of
the Republic of Botswana and the Head of Joint IRI/NDI IEO Mission to Nigeria.
"The gathering would be an opportunity to
honour the memory of General Muhammed who on assumption of office in 1975
immediately instituted a Transition to Civil Rule programme which his successor
in office, General Obasanjo followed through to fruition on October 1, 1979.
“The lecture series is a part of the MMF’s Good
Governance and Policy Compliance Programme, which has since 1991 been
established as a credible non-partisan platform for expert analysis and
generation of recommendations on issues of national importance in Nigeria and
the African continent," she said
She further urged interested members of the public
to register on the website http://mmfnigeria.org/2019mmflecture/ to attend the
one-day event holding in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Obe, a legal practitioner, is a former President of
the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) and also headed the Elections Program of
the National Democratic Institute’s Nigeria office in Abuja.
She is a member of
several boards and projects and chairs the Board of Trustees of the Goree
Institute (Senegal), serves as a Trustee of the Brussels-based International
Crisis Group and sits on the board of the Dakar-based Open Society Initiative
for West Africa (OSIWA).
Odinkalu on his part, is a human rights activist,
lawyer, professor and writer and was the former Chairman of Nigeria's National
Human Rights Commission and currently the senior team manager for the Africa
Program of Open Society Justice Initiative.
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