...Describes report as the product of poorly done desk job lEU's report reliable, says Atiku
The Presidency yesterday rejected a report by the European Union Electoral Observer Mission on the 2023 general elections, describing it as a product of a poorly-done desk job that relied heavily on few persons.
The president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said he had 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."
This was contained in a statement issued by Mr. Dele Alake, Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, with the title "We reject European Union's conclusions on 2023 general elections."
The President in the statement, noted that some notable bodies such as the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, and even the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had commended the conduct and outcome of the election.
The statement read: "Sometimes in May, we alerted the nation, through a press statement, to the plan by a continental multi-lateral institution to discredit the 2023 general elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
"The main target was the presidential election, clearly and fairly won by the then-candidate of All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
"While we did not mention the name of the organisation in the said statement, we made it abundantly clear to Nigerians how this foreign institution had been unrelenting in its assault on the credibility of the electoral process, the sovereignty of our country and on our ability as a people to organise ourselves.
"We find it preposterous and unconscionable that in this day and age, any foreign organisation 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.
"Now that the organisation has submitted what it claimed to be its final report on the elections, we can now categorically let Nigerians and the entire world know that we were not unaware of the machinations of the European Union to sustain its, largely, unfounded bias and claims on the election outcomes.
"For emphasis, we want to reiterate that the 2023 general elections, most especially the presidential election, won by President Bola Tinubu/All Progressives Congress, were credible, peaceful, free, fair and the best organised general elections in Nigeria since 1999. "
The statement said that there was no substantial evidence by the EU or any foreign body that was viable enough to discredit the outcome of the polls.
It stated: "There is no substantial evidence provided by the European Union or any foreign and local organisation that is viable enough to impeach the integrity of the 2023 election outcomes.
"It is worth restating that the limitation of EU final assessment and conclusions on our elections was made very bare in the text of the press conference addressed by the Head of its Electoral Observation Mission, Barry Andrews.
"While addressing journalists in Abuja on the so-called final report, Andrews noted that EU-EOM monitored the pre-election and post-election processes in Nigeria from January 11 to April 11, 2023 as an INEC-accredited election monitoring group.
"Within this period, EU-EOM observed the elections through 11 Abuja-based analysts, and 40 election observers spread across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. With the level of the personnel deployed, which was barely an average of one person per state, we wonder how EU-EOM independently monitored elections in over 176,000 polling units across Nigeria.
"We would like to know and even ask the EU, how it reached the conclusions in the submitted final report with the very limited coverage of the elections by their observers who, without doubt, relied more on rumours, hearsay, cocktails of prejudiced and uninformed social media commentaries and opposition talking heads.
"We are convinced that what EU-EOM called the final report on our recent elections is a product of a poorly-done desk job that relied heavily on few instances of skirmishes in less than 1,000 polling units out of over 176,000 where Nigerians voted on election day.
"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.
"We strongly reject, in its entirety, any notion and idea from any organisation, group and individual remotely suggesting that the 2023 election was fraudulent.
"Our earlier position that the technology-aided 2023 general elections were the most transparent and best-organised elections since the return of civil rule in Nigeria has been validated by all non-partisan foreign and local observers such are the African Union, ECOWAS, Commonwealth Observer Mission and the Nigerian Bar Association.
"Unlike EU-EOM which deployed fewer than 50 observers, the Nigerian Bar Association which sent out over 1000 observers spread across the entire country for the same election gave a more holistic and accurate assessment of the elections in their own report.
"NBA, an organisation of eminent lawyers and an important voice within the civic space reported that 91.8 per cent of Nigerians rated the conduct of the national and state elections as credible and satisfactory. Any election that over 90% of the citizens considered transparent should be celebrated anywhere in the world.
"It is heart-warming that INEC, through its National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye, has come out to defend the integrity of the election it conducted by rejecting the false narratives in the EU report.
"It is also gratifying that the electoral umpire, as an institution that is open to learning and continuous improvements, has also committed to taking on board more ideas, innovation and reforms that will further enhance the integrity and credibility of our electoral process.
"We have put the elections behind us. President Tinubu is facing the arduous task of nation-building, while those who have reasons to challenge the process continue to do so through the courts.
"In just one month in office, Nigerians appear satisfied with the decisive leadership of President Tinubu and the manner he is redirecting the country to the path of fiscal sustainability and socio-economic reforms.
"We urge the EU and other foreign interests to be objective in all their assessments of the internal affairs of our country and allow Nigeria to breathe."
EU's report reliable, says Atiku's aide
On its part, the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign, PDPPC, yesterday, described the report of the European Union Election Monitoring Group on the 2023 general elections as credible and reliable.
Mr Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant on Public Communications to the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in a statement, took a swipe at the spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu for trying to discredit the EU's report.
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Shaibu said: "Even primary school children, who did not vote, know that INEC failed woefully and that Tinubu rigged the last election.
"The Presidential election held on February 25, 2023, and yet as of July 2, 2023, the result of the Presidential election has not been fully uploaded. This is despite the fact that this election was the most expensive in the history of West Africa.
"How can an election in which the full results have not been fully uploaded after nearly five months be described as credible by any sane human being?"
Describing Alake's claim as nonsensical, Shaibu said it was hypocritical of the Nigerian government to receive millions of dollars from the EU as election fund and then turn around to claim that the EU has no right to make comments on the election.
He said: "The EU said in September last year that it budgeted 39 million euros for Nigeria's 2023 elections. Most of the funding went to INEC as election support.
"The EU not only provided training for INEC staff but also donated equipment only for INEC to conduct a shambolic poll. So why would Alake claim that the EU has no right to speak when it was the largest single donor to INEC? Mr Alake should rather be quiet rather than try to defend the indefensible."
The Atiku aide further argued that the results in states like Rivers showed that the election was far from credible.
He said: "The Presidential election in Rivers State was clearly rigged as evidenced by what INEC has uploaded on IREV. So far, nearly 300,000 Nigerians have signed a petition on change.org demanding visa bans against Governor Wike.
"Tinubu is now on the verge of appointing Wike as a minister as a reward for that disgraceful election. What a shame. And this is the character who claimed to have fought for the actualisation of June 12?"
