Despite challenges of violence, delays and malfunctioning of Smart Card Readers in some parts of the country, the Election Observation Mission of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, in its interim report, said that Saturday’s National Assembly and Presidential elections were generally peaceful and transparent.
Head of the ECOWAS Observer Mission, Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, said this on Sunday night while making a preliminary declaration on the election, pending the collation and declaration of final results by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The Mission observed that although the media played major role in informing the people it, however, reported the use of media platforms to misinform the public and propagate hate speech.
The Mission also observed that although the campaigns were largely peaceful, some incidents led to violence and deaths, some during the elections.
The former President of Liberia also commended the Nigerian electorate for their patience and determination to exercise their civic responsibility even as it called on the INEC and other stakeholders to approach the final phases of the process with fairness and transparency until the announcement of the final results.
The Mission urged INEC to take steps to address the many shortcomings, including operational capacity and systems that were observed all through the process. It further appealed to party leaders, candidates, their supporters and press, to show tolerance and restraint leading up to, and after the announcement of the results.
The Mission also called on the candidates to in the spirit of of the commitment made in the Peace Accord of February 13, accept the verdict of the polls in good faith, and in case of complaints, to seek redress by legal means solely.
The Mission lauded INEC, the security agencies for their dedication and professionalism, and praised the efforts of political parties, media and civil societies for their commitment and their demonstration of maturity during the process.
The ECOWAS Observation Mission comprised 200 observers from ECOWAS Member states, including 170 short term observers and 30 long term observers deployed to 31 states across the six geo- political zones of Nigeria including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Not-Too-Young-to-Run Act enhanced youth participation in Saturday’s elections – AU
The Head of African Union Election Observation Mission, Mr Hailemariam Desalegn, said the Not-Too-Young-to-Run Act enhanced youth participation in Saturday elections in Nigeria.
In the mission’s preliminary statement presented in Abuja yesterday, Desalegn, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, commended the Federal Government for the enactment of the Not-Too-Young-to-Run Act and lauded young candidates for participating in Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections in Nigeria.
He said that the Act enhanced the participation and political representation of young people in the elections.
“Political parties and young people should leverage the opportunity created by the Not-Too-Young-to-Run Act to increase political participation and representation,” he said.
The head of mission commended media’s role in the elections, but condemned the use of social media in propagating misinformation about the electoral processes and contestants.
According to him, such has negative implications for the country’s democracy, peace and stability.
“The mission calls on Nigerians and other stakeholders to act responsibly in the use of social media and refrain from disseminating false information on the elections, particularly the results,” he stated.
Desalegn said that the AU Observation Mission deployed 50 observers to 122 voting points in certain states, representing the six geopolitical regions.
He said that elections took place in a relatively peaceful environment, in spite of delays in polling units visited, and that voters exercised their rights to participate without systematic restriction.
“The secrecy of the votes was guaranteed in 85.4 per cent of the voting points observed. Where it was not guaranteed, it was mainly due to poor layout of the voting points.
“Polling procedures, such as verification and accreditation of voters were adhered to in 98.4 per cent of the voting points observed,” he said.
He also commended the priority given to persons with disabilities, the aged, expectant and nursing mothers and assistance given to persons unable to vote.
The mission leader urged political parties and candidates to uphold the commitments to peaceful elections and resolution of disputes in keeping with the two peace accords signed in December, 2018 and shortly before the elections.
“They are further urged to call on their supporters to remain calm and peaceful, and refrain from any action that might incite post-election violence.
“In any case of grievances over election results, political parties and candidates are encouraged to use legal instruments at their disposal to seek redress,” he said.
The mission congratulated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its cooperation with electoral observers and urged it to improve on election management to address the consistent postponement of elections.
It also recommended that the commission should strengthen the capacity of polling staff through training on assisting voters, counting and other electoral procedures.
