Independent foreign observers say Nigeria election well-conducted amid protests over alleged rigging

 

Contrary to divergent opinions held by Nigerians about the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections in the country, Independent Foreign Observers Mission in Nigeria has adjudged the poll as well conducted.

Its observations were contained in a preliminary report just released a few hours ago.

Recall that after enough assurances from the electoral umpire, INEC and the Central Bank of Nigeria on easing off the cash swap policy, Nigerians took to the polls on Saturday, 25th February, 2023, to elect a substantive President and members of the 10th National Assembly.

As at the time of filing this report, the results of the elections across the country, were still being collated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials in Abuja.

But the foreign Observers, drawn from several countries in Europe and America with a common goal of monitoring the presidential election in Nigeria, released a preliminary report in which they described the Saturday’s poll as “peaceful” and “transparent”.

In their estimations, the presidential elections in Nigeria witnessed a high turnout of voters nationwide.

Describing it as one of the most transparent elections in the country’s history, with the significant candidates recording victories and defeats as against previous polls.

Giving their observations on the turnout of voters, the Observers Mission said, “the presidential elections witnessed a comparatively large turnout of voters in the various geopolitical zones when compared to recent General Elections in the country.

“But the South West and South East Zones recorded the highest number of voters turnout, with eligible voters demonstrating an uncommon level of patience to exercise their franchise.

“INEC did deploy both sensitive and non-sensitive materials to voting points on time, even though it recorded some delays in some areas, which however did not deter voters from performing their civic duties,” the report added.

Giving its observations on vote buying, which was becoming a trend in previous polls, the foreign Mission observed that, the Saturdays polls recorded minimal incidences across the country.

It adduced this to Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which took a random visit to polling units unannounced to arrest anyone involved in such acts.

According to the observers, the country’s recent redesign of its currency, the naira reduced vote buying to the barest minimum.

Citing experiences in Nigeria’s 2015 and 2019 General Elections, the foreign observers submitted that social media platforms were deployed across political parties in a manner that could have potentially undermined votes, a situation that almost became worrisome on the part of supporters of candidates whose parties were not winning the votes.

Commenting further, it said such supporters took to social media to announce their candidates as being in early leads based on the announcement of results from few dozen of polling units. This situation significantly contributed to the allegations of vote manipulation that almost gained traction in the mainstream”.

Among those present at the Statement Hotel, Central Area, Abuja for Tuesday’s briefing include: Messrs Rudolf Elmendorp, Stuart Young, David Furnad, Stuart Dyer, Francois DeRobaix and Jeffrey Fry; amongst other supporting and technical members.