The European Union Election Observation Mission to Nigeria on Monday gave a damning assessment of the presidential and National Assembly elections in Nigeria.
The EU EOM Chief Observer, Barry Andrews, who presented the team’s preliminary findings in Abuja, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for ensuring that the elections were held on schedule.
He, however, lamented that lack of transparency and operational failures hampered the process.
The elections were marred by operation failures including late arrival of election materials and officials as well as malfunctioning of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in many parts of the country.
There were also pockets of violence in Lagos, Rivers, Edo and Kano, among others.
Andrews said: “Millions of Nigerian voters cast their vote in the Presidential, Senate, and House of Representatives elections despite prevailing challenges. I commend the patience of voters as well as the commitment of youth, who have contributed hugely to the democratic process.
“INEC held the elections on schedule despite a very challenging environment. Stakeholders overall expressed confidence in INEC’s independence and professionalism in the preparatory phase. However, INEC’s lack of efficient planning in critical stages and effective public communication reduced trust in the process, including on election day.
“The election day was marked by late deployment and opening while polling procedures were not always followed. Polling staff struggled to complete result forms, which were not posted publicly in most polling units observed. The introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) were perceived as important step to ensure the integrity and credibility of the elections.
“However, uploading the results using the BVAS did not work as expected and presidential election result forms started to appear on the portal very late on election day, raising concerns.
“The tabulation exercise is still ongoing, and we will follow the processes until the end. I encourage stakeholders to continue demonstrating a commitment to a peaceful process – before and after the results are announced. Any dispute arising from the electoral process should be addressed through established legal channels.”