Commonwealth salutes Bakili Muluzi

The Commonwealth Secretariat in United Kingdom has applauded former president Bakili Muluzi’s role in leading an election observer team to monitor Nigeria’s polls.

Muluzi was in the West African oil-rich State leading an 11-member Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) in the just-concluded elections which saw opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari triumphing over the incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan who was seeking a second and final term.

Commonwealth secretary general Kamalesh Sharma said yesterday in a statement, Muluzi’s “exemplary leadership” during the mission had shown a deep commitment to promoting the body’s fundamental political values.

The observer group included members from diverse fields drawn from Australia, Jamaica, Malaysia, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda.

Sharma observed that Muluzi invested significant time and effort in the election following its postponement on February 14 to March 28.

Buhari, a former military general who has failed on three previous attempts to lead Nigeria, (2003, 2007 and 2011), beat Jonathan by 15.4 million votes to 12.9 million.

This was Nigeria’s fifth election to elect president, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate since the end of military rule in 1999.