The European Union Election Observation Mission in Nigeria has accused military personnel stationed in certain parts of the country of voter intimidation, barring observers from doing their jobs and the overall militarisation of the March 9 Gubernatorial and State House of Assembly elections.
In a preliminary report presented to the press and other relevant stakeholders on Monday the 11th of March, the EU EOM stated that while they came to Nigeria on the invitation of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), they were not granted full access to monitor the elections in selected areas like the oil-rich southern state of Rivers, as a result of the activities of soldiers there.
In her statement, Maria Arena, the Mission’s Chief Observer, acknowledged that while some improvement on the presidential and National Assembly polls could be noticed, it paled in comparison to the electoral challenges that occurred. This prompted her to emphasise the need for more inclusive electoral reforms in the country.
“Observers, including EU observers, were denied access to collation centres in Rivers, apparently by military personnel. This lack of access for observers compromises transparency and trust in the process.”
“In Rivers, INEC suspended until further notice the elections due to violence in polling unuts and collation centres, staff being taken hostage and election materials, including result sheets, seized or destroyed by unauthorized persons.”
Calling the press out for the role it played during the elections, Arena said: “EU observers saw some misuse of state offices, as well as institutional websites being used for campaigning by both APC and PDP incumbent governors. State-level media broadcast political debates in 21 states, giving voters the opportunity to directly compare candidates. However in 12 states, incumbents or their main challengers refused to participate. All nine state-owned radio stations monitored by the EU Election Observation Mission served the interests of incumbent governors. The mission also noted pressure on local media outlets and journalists before and on election day.”
The EU deployed 73 observers to follow the voting, counting and results collation in 22 states, broken down into 223 polling units in 81 collation centres.
Arena, who is also a member of the EU Parliament, noted that improvements were recorded in the logistics aspect of the elections, with accreditation going on smoothly and voting being transparent in most polling units observed.
While decrying the low turnout of candidates, underage voting and vote buying among other things, the Chief Observer stated that the EU mission will remain in Nigeria to observe further, and submit a report with its recommendations in two months.
