29th August, 2014
The Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Congo to Nigeria, Marie-Louise Kombe, has said some African leaders are puppets for the western world.
Kombe said this in Abuja at the “Third Lecture Towards 2015 Elections” organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for stakeholders.
She noted that political conflicts were mostly caused by western interference who sponsored candidates of their choice to become presidents.
She said such candidates when they took over leadership, became puppets in the hands of the western world by serving their interests instead of developing their countries.
Speaking on the problems facing the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kombe said that the opposition in the DRC is major problem facing the country.
The ambassador stated that the opposition parties opposed anything the ruling party does, adding that, this does not augur well for the country’s electoral system.
“In the 2011 election in DRC, the opposition didn’t want the election to hold, they were not prepared for the election. They really need to be educated.
“The opposition should learn from Nigeria. We should emulate Nigeria’s electoral process. We Africans should be patriotic,” Kombe said.
The ambassador commended Nigeria’s electoral process, noting that Nigeria is the only African country where the ruling party had contested elections in some states of the federation and lost.
She urged African countries to emulate Nigeria’s electoral process to ensure free and fair election in their countries.
Earlier, Prof. Attahiru Jega, the Chairman of INEC, said that the lecture was part of efforts by the commission to create awareness on the 2015 elections.
Jega was represented at the occasion by Prof. Lai Olurode, the Chairman Board of the Electoral Institute and a National Commissioner of INEC.