THE Federal Government yesterday assured the international community that the present administration would leave a legacy of free, fair, transparent and credible election during the conduct of the forthcoming general elections.

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Peter Orubebe gave the assurance while receiving the United States of America, USA, delegation led by the country’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence McCulley in Abuja, noted that the administration was committed towards conducting elections that would meet international standards.

Elder Orubebe stressed further that the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has already started building of a solid foundation, which will guarantee free, fair and credible elections, pointing out that the parties’ primaries and the just concluded compilation of voters’ registration was an indication that we will have the best elections in this country by April.

The minister, however, pleaded with the American Government to extend the hands of fellowship to Nigeria by ensuring it supports the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the political institutions and the civil society organisations, to ensure the success of the polls.

According to him, “so he has started a stage for the votes of Nigerians to be counted. And so, if you go by the last voters registration, which we had about 63.3 million people registered. The enthusiasm is as a result of what they have seen, the transparency they have seen in the words of Mr. President, that their votes will be counted.

“As Nigerians have come to believe that their votes will be counted, that is why you see the outpouring of people going to register to decide who should be their president. So we are very sure that we are going to have credible elections, we  have transparent elections.

“And we are at various times calling on the international community to support the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to support the political institutions we have in this country. The civil society organisations, on the role they are going to play as people who will monitor the elections to see that the votes of the people are counted.

“And Mr. President made everything possible for all agencies, including the security agencies, providing their needs to make sure that every hands is on deck for us to have free and fair elections.

“I can guarantee you that Mr. President is committed to it. If there is anything that he wants to leave behind as a legacy, to the people of this country, is to have a president that would be elected transparently by the people of this country.

“We need your support in trainings of our people, in advising INEC, from what you have experienced other there that you think should be done here too and collectively, we will be able to overcome that.

“You know, as you rightly put it, the United Nations, UN, plays a very significant role in the heart of the people of this country, and then to the government of this country. it is been a ling functional relationship that we had over the period and a lot of things are borrowed from your system to us here.

“Today we are running presidential system, it is a picture that has been taken from United States over the years and we are enveloping it. Gradually, we think that we are going to succeed in institutionalising the system that is in operation in the United States.

“You will also note that there are so many political institutions that have been built over the period to understudy what is taking place in the United States, so that we can gradually move towards perfection in the political structure that existed over there for a very long time.

“Now, starting from the election that we are expecting in April this year, the whole world knows that Mr. president went to the United Nations and told the entire world that he is committed to ensuring that the votes of the people of this country are counted.

“And he has exhibited that in the parties’ primaries that we just went through. Even as a sitting president, he makes sure that the votes of the delegates are counted and there was transparency in the conduct of the exercise.

Earlier, the United States of America, USA, Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence McCulley, said his country will give Nigeria the necessary support to ensure that the 2011 general elections were successful.

He also hinted on the preparedness and commitment of the USA to partner with the Federal Government towards the implementations of the post Amnesty programme in the Niger Delta region.