Ahead of Senegal’s presidential election on Saturday, Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has led the West African Elders Forum, WAEF, to the country on a mediation mission.
This was revealed in a statement signed and issued in Yenagoa on Thursday by the Communications Officer of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Wealth Ominabo.
Fmr. President Jonathan, who also is the chairperson of WAEF, and other members of the forum left Abuja for Dakar on Thursday, according to the communique.
The statement named Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, former Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, as a member of the team.
The WAEF team is to meet with key stakeholders, including outgoing President Macky Sall, opposition leaders, civil societies, security authorities, and the country’s electoral commission during their stay which is meant to culminate ok Wednesday.
WAEF was a “forum primed for mediation” according to the Executive Director of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation and Head of the WAEF Secretariat, Ms Ann Iyonu.
“The forum expects to perform advisory and conflict resolution roles to ensure election-related conflicts are reduced to the barest minimum in the West Africa sub-region.
“The forum would observe electoral processes and continue to engage political leaders and other stakeholders until the election was peacefully and successfully concluded,” says Iyonu.