The European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission Nigeria 2019 has raised a question mark over the integrity of the 2019 election results as released by the Independent National Electoral Commission- INEC.
Other international election observer groups including the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) from the United States of America have also scored the 2019 elections very low stating that the elections failed to meet basic minimum expectations. The foreign election monitor announced on Monday in Abuja that the presidential and National Assembly elections and the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections were hugely marred by the involvement of military personnel, under-age voting, intimidation, harassment and murder- contending that it did not conform with international best practices.
The views expressed by the foreign observers were also echoed in Abuja yesterday by the outgoing Archbishop of the Abuja Catholic Archdiocese, His Eminence, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, who said the flawed elections witnessed during 2019 polls may have long term negative impact on good governance in the country. Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing Catholic Bishops of Nigeria Conference in Abuja, the cleric who stepped down recently as the local ordinary of Abuja archdiocese after attaining the age of 75 described the 2019 elections as the worst we have had in recent years- a downgrade from the 2015 elections.