United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence McCulley, yesterday declared his country’s neutral stance on who becomes President of Nigeria in 2015.
Mr. McCulley was reacting to the purported request by Special Assistant on Niger Delta Matters to President Goodluck Jonathan, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, in Washington DC, urging the US to support the President come 2015, “as security in the Niger Delta is tied to Jonathan’s re-election.”
But the ambassador replied that the US would not support a candidate or party for the 2015 presidential poll.
Speaking on Kaduna based Liberty Radio’s “Guest of the Week” programme, Mr. McCulley said, “We don’t have a candidate for the 2015 elections, except that we want credible and transparent elections and a process where all Nigerians can peacefully exercise their right to vote.
“We are not going to take a position on any individual candidate. We are going to help the Nigerian people to ensure that the elections in 2015 are better than the one in 2011. It is up to the Nigerian people to respond to Hon. Kuku’s statement. We don’t take a decision on individual political candidates.
“We believe that Nigeria has made great progress in the construction of its democratic institutions and we hope that in 2015, it is going to be peacefully contested on issues and the Nigerian people will decide on who they will vote for,” he said.
