After spending 13 weeks in Nigeria, the European Union (EU) Election Observers Mission at the weekend released its final report on the 2019 general elections, which has left tongues wagging, writes SUNDAY ISUWA.
The European Union (EU) Observers Mission came to Nigeria on January 6, 2019 and worked till April 11, 2019.
Over 90 observers were deployed for the presidential and the National Assembly elections while about 71 other observers also observed the gubernatorial, state assembly and the FCT area council elections.
Out of these numbers, 40 were on a long-term observers mission and the report and recommendations on the 2019 general elections released at the weekend said that no fewer that 150 people died during the election circle.
The EU officials during the unveiling of the report and recommendations added that it will be difficult to ascertain the actual number of people that were killed as a result of the election but revealed that it couldn’t be less than 150 people.
The EU observer mission was in Nigeria on the invitation of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which its chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu confirmed.
The 2019 general elections took place on February 23 in respect of the presidential and National Assembly positions. These were followed two weeks later, on March 9 by governorship election for 29 out of 36 states.
Some of the election were inconclusive and on March 23, there were supplementary elections for five governorship and 40 state assembly seats.
Spokesperson of Buhari campaign organization who was also his agent at the national collation centre, Festus Keyamo (SAN) was present during the unveiling of the EU’s report. He condemned the report, saying that the European Union observers mission did not take into consideration, the recommendations of the local observers.
Interestingly, in the evening of the same day, the presidency released a statement commending EU’s report.
Also at the same weekend, specifically, on Sunday, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the EU’s report vindicated its earlier claims and called for the arrest of the INEC chairman.
PDP said the report of the EU has further vindicated its position that the February 23 presidential election was rigged to favour President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The party said that the revelations of manipulations as detailed in the EU report further validates queries by majority of Nigerians that President Buhari was not validly returned for a second term in office.
In a statement issued by the PDP national publicity secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, he said “the world can now see that the PDP has not been crying wolf in insisting that the election was outrightly rigged with the cancellation of millions of PDP votes, alteration of results and allocation of fictitious votes to the APC.”
“Nigerians are still in shock over the revelations by EU of how about 2.8 million votes were deliberately ‘cancelled without sufficient accountability’ and how several returning officers gave no reason for the cancellations.
“More shocking is the iniquity committed at the national collation centre, headed by the INEC chairman, where the EU report exposed inconsistent numbers, distortions and ‘a large discrepancy of 1.66 million more registered voters’, as announced by INEC on January 14, compared to those announced by state returning officers during the collation of the presidential results.
“Nigerians witnessed on national television how professors and returning officers were unable to reconcile result figures due to heavy manipulations upon which INEC declared the APC winner,” PDP said.
But in a swift reaction, INEC said it won’t discuss issues that are before competent court of law with the PDP.
The commission said that dwelling on a very contentious issue that is before a court of law might be contemptuous.
INEC chairman’s chief press secretary, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, who reacted to the issues raised by journalists on INEC platform, said: “It is not just acceptable that we continue to discuss what is clearly subjudice. The PDP has made a case and it is being argued in court. Let’s exercise some discretion and allow the court to take a decision.”
In summary, EU said the Nigeria’s 2019 general elections were marked by severe operational and transparency shortcomings, electoral security problems, and low turnout.
Positively, EU said the elections were competitive with political parties able to campaign and civil societies enhanced accountability.
“However, the last-minute postponement of the elections put an undue burden on voters, results’ collation procedures were not sufficiently robust, and inadequate information was provided to the public. Fatalities escalated and the role of security agencies became increasingly contentious. The leading parties were at fault in not reining in acts of violence and intimidation by supporters, and in abusing incumbency at federal and state levels,” EU noted.
Except for Federal Government-owed radio, EU said the state media primarily served the interests of the president or the governors at the state level.
“Journalists were subjected to harassment, and scrutiny of the electoral process was at times compromised with some independent observers obstructed in their work, including by security agencies.
“The suspension of the chief justice of Nigeria by the president a few weeks before the elections was seen to lack due process and reportedly undermined judicial independence,” the report said among others.
With Nigeria having the least number of women participation in politics, EU said the number of women elected was below expectation.
“These systemic failings show the need for fundamental reform so elections better serve the interests of the Nigerian people,” it said.
The EU said INEC worked in a complex security and politically-charged environment, with its premises and officials subject to physical attacks and intimidation.
“INEC made a number of improvements, including making electoral participation more accessible through simplified voting procedures. INEC made efforts to strengthen electoral integrity by issuing regulations making smart card readers mandatory to accredit voters, but there were insufficient accompanying transparency measures.
“Other procedural weaknesses continued, including in regards to checks and transparency in the results process. Severe operational shortcomings resulted in the elections being postponed by a week just five hours before polling was due to start on 16 February. INEC then gave regular updates on election preparations, but before this, and after polling began, there was a serious lack of public communication with insufficient information made available,” EU said.
The EU EOM has 30 recommendations for improvement of elections in Nigeria but the priority recommendations were that: “1. INEC procedures for the collation of results be elaborated and strengthened to improve integrity and confidence in electoral outcomes.”
“2. Detailed INEC procedures be developed that provide for public scrutiny in dealing with irregularities and anomalies on results forms at all levels. Double entry of data and computerised checks be undertaken to avoid numerical errors.”
“3. Organisational and operational capacity within INEC be considerably strengthened. Improve planning, tracking, and the required human and material resources needed for timely and accountable operations. In addition, improve internal communication within INEC.
“4. The inter-agency body responsible for electoral security work more transparently and inclusively with regular consultations with political parties and civil society. Security arrangements, general principles for rules of engagement, updates, and complaints mechanisms be made public. Clear delineation of the operational roles of different security agencies be established, with the military only involved at the request of INEC.
“5.Given that it is only possible to run for office through a party, introduce a legal requirement for political parties to have a minimum representation of women among candidates. Noncompliance be sanctioned with proportionate and deterrent penalties. Parties be required to have policies and provide regular information on the promotion of women’s political participation within parties, as candidates, and more widely.
“6. To improve access to remedy and avoid petitions being taken to different courts at the same time, electoral tribunals be extended to also cover pre-election cases. Judicial capacity be increased through the appointment of more judges, training on election-related matters and improved case management mechanisms.
“ 7. Reform the licensing system for broadcast media to provide for pluralism and diversity in all states. Ownership structures be publicised, powers to grant licences be vested in the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) without presidential approval, and licence fees be tailored to the economic circumstances in each state,” EU said.
INEC chairman, Prof. Yakubu said the commission will start the implementation of some of the recommendations made by both domestic and foreign observers in the November 16, 2019 gubernatorial elections taking place in Kogi and Bayelsa States.
Many Nigerians have been reacting to the report. Speaking with LEADERSHIP Friday, a gender advocate and human rights activist, who is the immidiate past leader of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria, Barr Hauwa Shekarau, said she was not surprised with the EU report as according to her, the election was marred by irregularities.
“I am not surprised. Every person of goodwill who participated in the 2019 elections knows that the elections were fraught with monumental irregularities. That is enough to vitiate the credibility of the elections,” Shekarau said.
APC chieftain, Comrade Umar Yahaya, said since the contest was largely between the APC and the PDP, the two political parties should be held responsible for the violence that ensued in some places.
“Still about the election violence, I’m in sync with what they postulated because the reality is, the contest was between PDP and APC and none has done much to check the excesses of their followers,” Yahaya said.
“I’m hoping and praying to see a time that political parties will stamp their feats heavily on members associated with violence in any form,” he added.
The head of Mive Legal and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), House of Justice, Barr Gloria Ballason, said the EU’s report was not outside the views expressed by Nigerians concerning the 2019 general elections.
“I’m not sure there was anything reported by Maria Arena of the EU election observer mission that had not already been expressed by Nigerians. Curiously, INEC had scored itself high when it said the 2019 elections were largely successful even when the facts speak to the contrary.
“Take events prior to the elections for example, the Chief Justice of Nigeria Walter Onnoghen was removed without due process. What that does to the psyche of a judge who has to come under enormous pressure in political cases is best imagined,” Ballason said.
According to her, the postponement of the elections hours before initial date of Saturday February 16, 2019 demoralised citizens who had traveled from all over the world to cast their votes.
“It made the whole exercise seem like a joke because even classroom elections are rarely treated with such flippancy. Violence and the manner in which it was handled is another fact. Kano as a swing state conducted a gubernatorial election that was violence free. The elections were cancelled and another which was marred by extreme thuggery and violence was adjudged ‘free’; such is the paradox seen at the last elections.
“Other issues such as the hijacked use of federal and state media by the incumbent, the gap in communication between INEC and Nigerians lent credence to the EU report,” Ballason said, adding that the problem with the report was, in her view, “it came late.”
“The EU observer mission arrived on the 6th of January and left in April. One would have thought that as a stitch in time saving measure, the report ought to have come earlier but then again that calls us to reflect on the words of Professor Patrick Lumumba who recently bemoaned our inordinate dependence on foreign observer reports rather than commit to national or regional appraisal. Quite frankly, the last elections fell beyond expectation,” She adde. ww
On the call my the PDP for the arrest of the INEC Chairman, Ballason said her job description does not include speaking on behalf of any party but added that, “the philosophy of law is that it towers above everyone regardless of their standing.”
“So, if there are persons in INEC who need to be prosecuted for any acts they have committed that go against the law, so be it. Those actions though must be acts sanctioned by law and not merely political conjunctions designed to score points,” She said.
“The EU report does not come as a surprise to anyone who closely followed the last general elections. It only confirmed what was already known, which is that the last elections were the worst elections in Nigeria’s history,” a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Kaduna state, Barr Kish Adamu said.
According to him, the EU used diplomatic language and decent speech to express their disappointment with the conduct of the election.
“For instance, they cleverly avoided making comments on the issue of transmission of the presidential election results to the INEC server. On the arrest of the INEC chairman, my party has taken a position and I cannot add or subtract from that,” Adamu said.
The commission had earlier said it won’t exchange words over issues that are already in court.
INEC National Commissioner, Information and Voter Education Committee, Barr Festus Okoye, in a statement, said the Cpcommission is a law-abiding institution and will not argue or canvass in the media, positions that are subjudice.
“INEC is aware that there are petitions pending before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal. The commission is also aware that issues have been joined in the said petitions as the petitioners have filed their petitions and the respondents have responded to the petitions,” Okoye said.
