-- Says violence, vote-buying marred guber polls
The European Union Election Observation Mission to Nigeria 2023 on 2023 elections Monday slammed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for failing to live up to expectations in Nigeria's electoral process.
The Chief
Observer, EU Election Observation Mission, Barry Andrews, in his preliminary
statement of the EU EOM on the governorship and state Houses of Assembly
elections said, "Throughout the mission, we saw that Nigerians have a
great appetite for democracy and are keen to engage in various civic
activities. However, in many parts of the country, their expectations were not
met. Many were disappointed and we witnessed voter apathy that is in part, a
clear consequence of failures by political elites and, unfortunately, also by
INEC.
“Public
confidence and trust in INEC were severely damaged on 25 February due to lack
of transparency and operational failures in the conduct of the federal level
polls."
“Up until
the postponement, INEC continued to abstain from providing information,
limiting its communication to a few press releases and ceremonial statements
and hence failing to address public grievances and rebuild confidence in the
electoral process."
“Positively,
INEC introduced some corrective measures ahead of Saturday’s polls, allowing a
timely delivery of sensitive materials and improved use of election
technologies, yet the institution continued to lack transparency."
“Polling on
Election Day was disrupted by multiple incidents of thuggery and intimidation
of voters, polling officials, observers, and journalists. Lagos, Kano, and
other states in the southern and central parts were the most affected.
Unfortunately, there were many casualties and fatalities. Vote-buying, also
directly observed by EU EOM observers, further detracted from the appropriate
conduct of the elections."
The second
preliminary report of the EU EOM Nigeria 2023 supplements the first report
issued on February 27. The mission has been present in Nigeria since January 11
and will continue to observe post-election developments.
The EU EOM
will present and publish its final report, including recommendations for
improving the electoral framework in the next few months.
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