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Political Pressure Group, the Progressive Nationalist Forum (PNF) wants President John Dramani Mahama, in his capacity as ECOWAS Chairman, to show leadership by ensuring countries in the sub-region �provide troops with immediate effect under a command to tackle Boko Haram�, as Nigerians go to the polls next month to elect a president. The pressure group warned that the West African sub-region in general, and Ghana in particular, "stands to be destabilized" with failed elections in Nigeria. �The increased numbers of Nigerians into Ghana within the New Year is only an early warning signal that all is not well in Nigeria due to the upcoming elections and the activities of Boko Haram�Let all Ghanaians add our voice to this call and ensure Nigeria is safe for a safe Nigeria will ensure a better Ghana,� Richard Nyamah, Convener for the pressure group, said in a statement issued Monday. Whiles commending President Mahama for calling for an African High command task force to go into Nigeria to help with the security situation, PNF quickly added that �it is disappointing for the President to say it will take a few months to put together due to bureaucracy�. Richard Nyamah further warned that �if these actions are not taken and quickly so, there is the likelihood that Boko haram will use this opportunity to make incursions into other parts of Nigeria, spread fear and panic and therefore affect the outcome of the elections which could then lead to a long bloody electoral dispute of unimaginable consequences.� Below is a reproduction of the statement issued by the Progressive Nationalist Forum (PNF) NIGERIA IN MELTDOWN AS AFRICA SITS ON THE FENCE Three weeks to the elections in Nigeria on 14 February, 2015 and there have been no clearer early warning signals of a country on the brink of violence and war than we are seeing play out in Nigeria, Africa�s largest economy and most populous country with some 177million people. Boko Haram has out-staged the general elections in Nigeria next month with its acts of terrorism through suicide bombings and near acts of genocide which has seen more than 11,000 people killed in 2014, an estimated 2,000 in the town of Baga in the last two weeks and yet these do not make the headlines both in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. The elections to be held on 14 February, 2015 has the potential to cascade into a civil war depending on who wins and by what margin if African leaders do not show concern and assist Nigeria in ensuring a free and fair elections. First and foremost the activities of Boko Haram will definitely affect voter turnout and most likely the outcome especially in north eastern Nigeria where its presence is predominant. There is likely to be lower voter turnout in these areas and this could affect the fortunes of Muhammadu Buhari who is contesting President Goodluck Jonathan. Secondly, there will definitely be an increase in Boko haram violence during this period affecting the security situation in Nigeria especially in the north. The President will to this end deploy more Nigerian troops to areas he has political advantage to protect ��his voters�� thereby affecting the verdict and outcome of the elections. This will be seen as unfair by his opponent and lead to the results being contested. Let it be noted that the power of incumbency means that President Jonathan will spare no resources in ensuring a successful reelection. It is my view that African leaders with immediate effect need to call on all parties in Nigeria to ensure a free and fair elections. That the government should make available the needed resources to the electoral commission to ensure the process is well administered. Most importantly however, African leaders should consider making available military and police personnel to be deployed especially to north/eastern Nigeria during and after the elections to help contain the activities of boko haram during the elections. It is worthy of note that President Mahama as ECOWAS chairman has called for an African High command task force to go into Nigeria to help with the security situation. Whilst the observation is commendable, it is disappointing for the President to say it will take a few months to put together due to bureaucracy. Boko haram has made incursions into countries such as Chad, Cameroun, Niger among others and February and especially during the elections will be critical to the security situation in Nigeria and the ECOWAS sub-region.