The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Federal Government’s dismissal of the European Union Electoral Report has raised concerns among various organizations, including the Transition Monitoring Group.
Also, local observers and civil society groups involved in election observation and democracy monitoring in Nigeria have also voiced similar concerns regarding deficiencies in the electoral process.
Expressing worries over the dismissal of EU’s report by INEC and FG, in a statement made available to newsmen, the Chairman of the election monitoring group, Comrade Auwal Musa Rasfanjani, said, “the recommendations by the European Union align with the views of many civil society groups and local observers. It is imperative that the government and INEC review those recommendations and work towards addressing the gaps in the electoral processes in order to make our electoral system more transparent, accountable and participatory to restore confidence in the process,” he said.
Comrade Rafsanjani further stressed the importance of genuine efforts by our government to guarantee transparent and accountable, free and fair elections in Nigeria. Only through such measures can we truly consolidate and attain democracy and good governance in our country.
“We urge President Bola Tinubu to take courage and admit to the shortcomings with the electoral process which is evident by the violence and several election petitions going on in the country and the reduction of Nigerian’s participation in the elections, he should emulate late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua who admitted that there were gaps in his election and committed to reform the electoral system. Therefore, TMG urges president Tinubu to ensure effective reform.
“The EU witnessed the election process and their report should not be ignored. It is disheartening to see that the government and INEC are disregarding the recommendations from the European Union who they invited to observe the elections.”
Furthermore, he emphasized that the government and INEC’s dismissal of local election observers and the EU Election Report might convey an erroneous message while pointing out that TMG firmly believes that electoral misconduct should never be normalized, and it urged the government and INEC to take steps to tackle electoral corruption and impunity. He asserted that such actions would significantly enhance our electoral system’s integrity and restore public trust.
“The EU Electoral Report and local elections observers report should not be dismissed, but rather, it should be looked into, and the necessary action should be taken to ensure free, fair, transparent and credible elections in Nigeria,” Mr Rafsanjani added.