The European Union Election Observation Mission to Nigeria 2023 on Monday decries the Independent National Electoral Commission for failing to live up to expectations in Nigeria’s electoral process.

The Chief Observer, EU Election Observation Mission, Barry Andrews, in his preliminary statement of the EU EOM on the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections said Nigerians hungered for democracy and were ready to be involved in the country’s democracy.

However, he noted the appetite was lost owing to failures by the political elites and INEC.

“Public confidence and trust in INEC were severely damaged on 25 February due to lack of transparency and operational failures in the conduct of the federal level polls.

Andrews said, “Throughout the mission, we saw that Nigerians have a great appetite for democracy and are keen to engage in various civic activities. However, in many parts of the country, their expectations were not met.

Many were disappointed and we witnessed voter apathy that is in part, a clear consequence of failures by political elites and, unfortunately, also by INEC

Andrews also added that “Polling on Election Day was disrupted by multiple incidents of thuggery and intimidation of voters, polling officials, observers, and journalists.

Lagos, Kano, and other states in the southern and central parts were the most affected. Unfortunately, there were many casualties and fatalities.

Vote-buying, also directly observed by EU EOM observers, further detracted from the appropriate conduct of the elections.”

Source: The Punch