The ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, in their characteristic manner on Thursday sponsored protesters to the European’s Union office in Abuja, to register their grievances over the report of the EU’s criticism of the shoddy conduct of the 2023 elections.
The European Union Observation Team had last week presented their report on the 2023 general elections in the country, exposing the discrepancies noticed during the elections, warning of its adverse effect on the public perception of the electoral body.
The observers said although the elections showed the commitment of Nigerians to democracy, it also exposed enduring systemic weaknesses and therefore signal a need for further legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability.
But in a swift reaction, the Presidency had insisted that the yardstick and assessment of the EU Mission cannot determine the credibility and transparency of the country’s elections.
While many lauded the report of the EU’s report and perceived it as being fair and truthful, the protesters who besieged the EU office in their numbers thought otherwise as they described the report as ridiculous.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Lilian Ogbole said there was nowhere in the world that election is devoid of crisis and hitches, adding that they were not satisfied with the report.
“Yes, we are aware that the world is a global village, therefore, people from different parts of the world converge in various countries during elections to monitor, 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.”
They called on the EU to urgently withdraw the report and come up with another report that would be favourable to Nigeria.
