Presidency rejects EU elections report, says observers acted on cocktails, commentaries

The Nigeria Federal Government has bluntly say NO to the European Union’s report on the recent 2023 general elections. 

The EU Electoral Observer Mission had stated that it has lost trust in Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC especially as a result of the failure to upload the result of the presidential election electronically via the INEC portal.

The European Union which also identified six loop areas for improvement in Nigeria’s electoral process moving forward, noted that the presidential election exposed enduring systemic weaknesses and therefore signalled a need for further legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness and accountability during, and after the elections.

However, reacting to the reports received from the EU’s end, Dele Alake, who is the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, described it as a “product of a poorly done desk job that relied heavily on few instances of skirmishes in less than 1000 polling units out of over 176,000 where Nigerians voted on election day.”

Alake claimed that the European Union election observers relied more on spread rumours, hearsay, cocktails of prejudiced and uninformed social media commentaries and opposition talking heads.

The special adviser insisted that the concluded 2023 general elections, most especially the presidential election, won by President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC were most credible, peaceful, free, fair and the best organised general elections in Nigeria since year 1999. 

He also said that there is no substantial evidence provided by the European Union or any foreign and local organisation that was viable enough to impeach the integrity of the 2023 election outcomes and as such, the elections were not fraudulent.

The statement reads; 

“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.”