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Official responses to the Nigeria elections 2007
| Official responses to the Nigeria elections 2007 |
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In strongly worded statements, delegations from the European Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the United States' National Democratic Institute said the elections were not credible. In Washington the U.S. State Department said it was "deeply troubled" by reports of violence and vote rigging.
These are some of the official response to the Nigeria elections 2007: The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC): “a free and fair contest” Iwu said he gave the election a "pass mark". He acknowledged there had been some "irregularities", but said the election was "80 per cent successful". Both Mr Obasanjo and Maurice Iwu, the chairman of the electoral commission, continued to defend the overall process, while other senior political figures warned about the dangers of wholesale condemnation. http://www.inecnigeria.org/newsview.php?newsid=319 President-elect Umar Musa Yar’Adua: “best election country has ever had” Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), on behalf of the Domestic Election Observation Group: “elections were a charade” “Our monitors throughout the country … documented numerous lapses, massive irregularities and electoral malpractices that characterized the elections in many states. We therefore reject the elections and call for their cancellation. The Federal Government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have failed woefully in their responsibility to conduct free, fair and credible elections. “We do not believe that any outcome of the elections can represent the will of the people. A democratic arrangement founded on such fraud can have no legitimacy.” "We call on the international community not to recognise these discredited elections and not to confer legitimacy on any government that emerges therefrom", said the TMG head, Innocent Chukwuma. Joint Action Forum: “Inec siding with the PDP” "Worst of all is the presidential poll held yesterday that is marred by voters' apathy as a result of Inec failings to hold as scheduled the Presidential and National Assembly elections in some parts of the country." http://www.iri.org/newsarchive/2007/2007-04-23-News-BBCNews-Nigeria.asp Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas): “validity of the elections challenged” But at a news conference held at the ECOWAS secretariat in Abuja, former president of Gambia, Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara said the ECOWAS identified problems at all stages of the election. He said: "Irregularities and the sporadic violence chara-cterised and challenged the validity of the elections." European Union (EU): “one of the worst elections the EU has observed”/ “elections not credible” Elections for president and state governors were marred by violence, poor organisation, lack of transparency, widespread irregularities, significant fraud, voter disenfranchisement and bias, the observers said. The head of the European Union monitoring team, Max van den Berg, said it was one of the worst elections that the EU had observed. ”These elections have not lived up to the hopes and expectations of the Nigerian people”. He said: "In 78 per cent of polling stations observed during the opening essential polling materials were missing especially polling booths and ballot papers," he said. He accused the presidency of manipulating Independent National Electoral Commission by holding on to its power of appointing commissioners. http://www.iri.org/newsarchive/2007/2007-04-23-News-BBCNews-Nigeria.asp Commonwealth Observer Group: “elections an improvement to state polls” http://www.iri.org/newsarchive/2007/2007-04-23-News-BBCNews-Nigeria.asp International Republican Institute (IRI): “the election process falls below international standards” "Nigeria's election process, which we recognise is still continuing and thus far incomplete, falls below the standards which Nigeria itself has set in previous elections and also falls below international standards, witnessed by IRI and members of this delegation throughout the world, " said the IRI. "Neither the spirit of Nigerians who went to the polls to cast their ballots nor the dedication of the thousands of poll workers struggling to execute their responsibilities in polling stations throughout the country were matched by their leaders." It said it observed "underage voting, voter registration list errors, stuffed ballot boxes, group voting, party observers and police instructing individuals on who to vote for, lack of privacy for voting, lack of results sheets and other materials, falsified results sheets, and early closings". http://www.iri.org/newsarchive/2007/2007-04-23-News-BBCNews-Nigeria.asp National Democratic Institute (NDI): “electoral process has failed the Nigerian people and represent a step backward” “The cumulative effect of the serious problems the delegation witnessed substantially compromised the integrity of the electoral process. As a result, at this stage, it is unclear whether the April 21 elections reflect the will of the Nigerian people. "Regrettably, the 2007 polls represent a step backward in the conduct of elections in Nigeria. "The serious flaws witnessed during this electoral process threaten to further erode citizen confidence in the country's democratic institutions." “Those elections tested the viability of many of Nigeria’s weak public institutions, most notably the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Human Rights Watch (HRW): “African nations largely silent on the shambles that was the election” These elections stand as only the latest example of the systemic patterns of corruption and violence that have characterised President Obasanjo’s eight-year rule. Nigerians are poorer today than they were at independence in 1960. Rising oil prices have given the government unprecedented wealth and opportunities for graft. Taking into account the antics of state and local governments, Obasanjo has presided over what is perhaps the largest theft of public resources in Africa’s post-independence history. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/04/25/nigeri15770.htm www.hrw.org African Union (AU)
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