Shehu Sani, the former Senator representing Kaduna Central has called the protest against the report of the European Union on the conduct of the 2023 general election as futile noises of conscienceless Abuja protest merchants.
Arguing in favour of the report which stated that the 2023 general election was not credible and fair, Sani stated that the report should be a compass that should guide Nigeria to perfect our crumbling Institutions.
“The protest in front of the EU Embassy in Abuja over the election report is a hollow and futile noise of conscienceless Abuja protest merchants. They are masquerades of the decadence in our country. The EU report is a compass that should guide us to perfect our system.”
The report of the European Union Election Observation Mission EU EOM to Nigeria’s 2023 general elections which was published on the 27th of June, 2023, revealed that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, failed to provide the voter turnout per state, a list of polling units where elections were canceled, and the reasons for the cancellation.
It also revealed that there was organized violence on the 18th of March, and obstruction which prevented voters from showing their preferred candidates in the elections in Lagos and Rivers State while 19 staff of INEC was kidnapped in Imo and 6 kidnapped in Kogi State.
“In 44% of observed cases, results forms were not transmitted electronically. In 33% of observed cases, results were not posted publicly as required by law.”
Meanwhile, the report irked the Nigerian government led by President Bola Tinubu who, through his spokesperson on media, Dele Alake told the European Union to hand off from the activities of Nigeria as it was a sovereign nation.
On Thursday, protesters under the aegis of Coalition of Civil Society Organizations and Political Parties for Good Governance, stormed the office of the EU in Abuja and faulted the report of the European Union which rated the polls as generally falling short of acceptable global standards.
The National Coordinator of the coalition, Dr. Lilian Ene Ogbole who led the protesters warned the Western countries against meddling in the internal affairs of Nigeria.
She said; “We have come to register unequivocally, our dissatisfaction with the report of the European Union. As a matter of fact, we are of the opinion that the report is not just ridiculous but a deliberate act to slight Nigeria and of course by implication, our leaders and the Government of Nigeria.
“We are all Nigerians here. We were all here during the just concluded elections. But before I proceed further, I would like to say to you very clearly that there is no where in the world where elections are devoid of crisis and hitches. Every election in the world both in the United States of America, in the Great Britain both in Ireland and even the European Union countries have had hitches.
“Every election comes with its peculiar problems. Nigeria is not an exception. Yes, we are aware that the world is a global village therefore, people from different parts of the world converge on various countries during elections to observe and make presentations like the EU has done. But what we found unnecessary, what we found not worthy is the manner in which the report was made.
“The election that was just concluded in Nigeria is one of the most transparent elections in the history of Nigeria. We were taking aback when the report came, where the European Union carefully and specifically said that the election was fraudulent; that the election fell short of requirements of every credible election in the world. I don’t know where that one is coming from. If it is the election that we were all part of, that we all fought vigorously with our lives and everything we have as patriots and well meaning Nigerians to ensure that the election held; if it is the same election that the European Union spoke about, then it means that something is fishy somewhere.
“You would also agree with me that the report of the European Union is enough to trigger a national problem, is enough to trigger a national chaos. Our security is at stake, our sovereignty is at stake, our unity is at stake. Nigeria is a great country in Africa, the pride of Africa and whatever you do to Nigeria affects the entire continent.
“We are here to register our grievances, we are here to tell them that as a matter of urgency; they should withdraw their report and come up with the report that will be favourable to Nigeria.
“How on earth can just less than 50 people from the European Union come to Nigeria to observe an election where you have over 176, 000 polling units and then they go to less than 1,000 polling units and they draw conclusions?
“If there are other Nigerians they are using as fronts to send wrong signals about our country, we want to tell them to desist from that immediately. Nigeria wants to measure up with the European Union countries, Nigeria wants to be like the United States. We will not henceforth condone any false report, we will not henceforth condone any manipulated report against our country. It has happened in the past; what we are seeing is neocolonialism and we will not allow that.
“We have a constitution that guides us, we have the constitution that sets the tune and the constitution is what we must work with and work by not by any speculation or fabrication and rumours from the international community.
“We are saying enough is enough. We have a president that is doing very well. No man, no woman, no country compelled us to vote for him. It is our right to vote for him. It is our right to vote for the candidate of our choice and that was exactly what we exhibited in the last election”, she added.
