The European Union Election Observer Mission to Nigeria (EU EOM) has said the March 18th Governorship and State House of Assembly elections were marred by multiple incidents of thuggery and intimidation of voters, polling officials, observers, and journalists in Lagos, Rivers, Kano, and other states in the southern and central parts of the country.
The EU-EOM Chief Observer, Barry Andrews, made the disclosure in its second preliminary report of the EU EOM Nigeria 2023 supplements after the first report was issued on February 27.
Andrews, however, said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) improved on logistics during Saturday’s gubernatorial elections.
Andrews said:“Throughout the mission, we saw that Nigerians have a great appetite for democracy and are keen to engage in various civic activities. However, in many parts of the country, their expectations were not met.
”Many were disappointed and we witnessed voter apathy that is in part, a clear consequence of failures by political elites and, unfortunately, also by INEC.
“Public confidence and trust in INEC were severely damaged on 25 February due to lack of transparency and operational failures in the conduct of the federal level polls.
“Up until the postponement, INEC continued to abstain from providing information, limiting its communication to a few press releases and ceremonial statements and hence failing to address public grievances and rebuild confidence in the electoral process.
“From 11 March onwards, despite compressed timeframes, INEC introduced various corrective measures to render a timely delivery of electoral materials, efficient use of election technologies, and ensure prompt publication of result forms, some of which were effective.
“Positively, INEC introduced some corrective measures ahead of Saturday’s polls, allowing a timely delivery of sensitive materials and improved use of election technologies, yet the institution continued to lack transparency.
”Unfortunately, there were many casualties and fatalities. Vote-buying, also directly observed by EU EOM observers, further detracted from the appropriate conduct of the “elections.”
