* Threatens visa sanction on electoral offenders
The United States of America (USA) has reaffirmed its neutrality at the February 25 presidential election in Nigeria, insisting that it has no preferred candidate among the four leading contenders.
It would be recalled the President Muhammadu Buhari had while receiving some foreign envoys who presented their letters to him as ambassadors, warned that the international community must not interfere in Nigeria’s upcoming elections which he described as entirely a Nigerian affair.
Stating the the United States position, the US Consul General in Nigeria, Will Stevens, said during a town hall meeting, organised by the Niger-Delta Open Observatory, NOGO, in Asaba, Delta State, at the weekend, that his county has no vested interest on who emerges as the next president of Nigeria.
Stevens however noted that the US demands a free, fair and credible election in Nigeria, warning that those who instigate electoral violence will be denied visas by the US government.
“The US does not have a preferred candidate, full stop! We are not interested in a particular party or candidate,” he said