Yesterday, observers from the United States of America (US), the European Union (EU), African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Commonwealth, all noted the irregularities in the polls.
The International Republican Institute (IRI) and National Democratic Institute (NDI) Joint Election Observation Mission, noted that inadequate communication and lack of transparency by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) created confusion and eroded voters’ trust in the process.
Although more results came in last night, pointing in the direction of a likely winner of the presidential election, agents of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Dino Melaye, his Labour Party counterpart, Hon. Umar Farouk Ibrahim, Action Peoples Party (APP), Chinemelo Ubah and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), yesterday, staged a walkout at the National Collation Centre in Abuja, alleging that the electoral process was flawed.
But, some other parties like the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Action Alliance (AA) dissociated themselves from what described as a charade.
INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, however said the process could only be reviewed after the exercise had been concluded.
This nonetheless, Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, yesterday, made history after he defeated his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart in his Lagos base.
The IRI and NDI in their preliminary statement on the Presidential and National Assembly elections, presented in Abuja by their leader, and former President of Malawi, Dr. Joyce Banda, said despite the much-needed reforms to the Electoral Act 2022, the election fell well short of Nigerian citizens’ reasonable expectations.
The foreign observers on the Nigeria 2023 International Election Observation Mission also urged the international community to sanction perpetrators of electoral violence in the ongoing general election in Nigeria.
Culled fro ThisDay Nigeria
Pix WFD
