FG carpets EU, says report on 2023 general elections based on rumours, hearsays
The Federal Government has rejected the European Union’s (EU) conclusions regarding the credibility of the 2023 general elections.
The Federal Government’s position was contained in a press statement issued on Sunday by the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications, and Strategy, Dele Alake.
Alake criticized the EU’s assessment, emphasizing the transparency and integrity of the electoral process.
“We find it preposterous and unconscionable that in this day and age, any foreign organization of whatever hue can continue to insist on its own yardstick and assessment as the only way to determine the credibility and transparency of our elections,” Alake said.
According to him, the 2023 general elections, particularly the presidential election won by Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), were credible, peaceful, and the best organized in Nigeria since 1999.
“There is no substantial evidence provided by the European Union or any foreign and local organization that is viable enough to impeach the integrity of the 2023 election outcomes,” Alake firmly asserted.
The statement highlighted the limitations of the EU’s assessment, specifically questioning the it’s ability to independently monitor the vast number of polling units across Nigeria with its limited personnel deployed to monitor the exercise.
Alake expressed doubt about the EU’s report, suggesting that it relied on rumours, hearsay, and biased social media commentaries.
“We wonder how EU-EOM independently monitored elections in over 176,000 polling units across Nigeria… We have many reasons to believe the jaundiced report, based on the views of fewer than 50 observers, was to merely sustain the same premature denunciatory stance contained in EU’s preliminary report released in March,” Alake said.
He further added that while the EU’s report was met with strong resistance, the Nigerian government highlighted the assessments of other non-partisan foreign and local observers. The Nigerian Bar Association’s report, for instance, revealed that 91.8% of Nigerians rated the conduct of the national and state elections as credible and satisfactory.
“Our earlier position that the technology-aided 2023 general elections were the most transparent and best organized elections since the return of civil rule in Nigeria have been validated by all non-partisan foreign and local observers such are the African Union, ECOWAS, Commonwealth Observer Mission, and the Nigerian Bar Association,” Alake pointed out.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also rejected the EU report, defending the integrity of the elections it conducted.
INEC emphasized its commitment to continuous improvement and openness to reforms that would enhance the credibility of future elections.
