Some Nigerians on Saturday expressed optimism about a peaceful 2023 election and smooth power transfer to another administration.

A cross-section of Nigerians in Lagos said the electioneering campaign bar had been raised for people to vote for the best candidate in all elective positions.

Despite the constraining variables like the subsisting cashless policy and the artificial fuel scarcity, people are optimistic about a good transition in May.

Wale Adewale, a political scientist and a lecturer at the Lagos State University (LASU), said Nigerians have become more politically conscious and enthused by fierce competition in the polity.

According to him, the campaigns across parties have been encouraging but lacked desirable agreement between the people, political parties, and candidates.

“Nigerians are patiently discarding those disturbing variables in the system with high hopes of attaining a better society after the election,” he said.

Gab Ireaku, director, Social Re-engineering Network, said hard times had awoken people from slumber to begin to pursue an improved system through the forthcoming election.

The social justice crusader described people’s participation in voting as one that confers legitimacy to the process.

Mr Ireaku dismissed any possibility of an election-induced fracas in the society, noting that Nigerians are tired of hard times and ready to overturn the nation’s misfortunes through the election.

Anglia Orji, a businesswoman at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, said everyone who wished to vote must have their voters’ card by now.

She said the masses were ready to change the system that has held them disadvantaged. She said, unlike previous elections, the coming polls would be devoid of violence; instead, there would be mass turnout.

The Lagos chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Stephen Adegbite, called on the faithful to present Nigeria’s election as a supplication to God for a smooth process.

Meanwhile, the electoral body has indicated its readiness to conduct the polls to ensure that Nigerians decide who leads them.

In the same vein, President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the Presidential Transition Council to oversee a smooth transition after the polls.

 (NAN)