By Peter Moses Abeokuta
Former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday said Africa and indeed the world are anxiously waiting for the fi nal outcome of the Kenya’s presidential election held on Tuesday. He was apparently disturbed by reports which indicated that at least fi ve people have been killed in post-election violence as at yesterday, after opposition leader Raila Odinga alleged “massive” fraud in Tuesday’s vote. Obasanjo, in a statement issued by his Media Aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, in Abeokuta, congratulated Kenyans over what he called “the relative peace” that greeted the campaign and preparations for the justconcluded elections.
He, however, appealed for peace and non-violence over the allegation of hacking into the electoral system, saying it was a technical issue that should be left for non-partisan committee to look into. Th e statement read in part: “Th e world is waiting for the fi nal declaration of the election and the reactions. Allegations of hacking into the electoral system have been made. Th is, of course, as a technical issue must be thoroughly investigated by a non-partisan committee of experts, no matter what the fi nal declaration of the election result is.
“Th e world is also waiting anxiously to see that peace continues to prevail after the formal declaration of the election result. Th ose of us who are friends of Kenya and who believe that peaceful election in Kenya, like in any other African country, is necessary to stabilise democracy in Africa and lay the foundation for strong economic development, unity and progress are also anxious. “It will not be in the interest of anybody in Kenya to have to resort to International Criminal Court again. We appeal for peace, non-violence and dialogue as the eyes of the world is on Kenya and we can’t do better than to show that electorally, Kenya has come of age.”
