YIAGA welcomes EU’s report on Nigeria’s 2023 polls

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth, and Advancement (YIAGA) Africa has said the report by the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission of the 2023 general election in Nigeria was a welcome development.

YIAGA also noted that the issues highlighted in the EU’s report were not new to the international community, adding that Nigeria has some lessons to learn from the just concluded general election in Sierra Leone.

The Executive Director of YIAGA Africa, Mr. Samson Itodo, said this when he appeared in a television programme  monitored in Abuja.

He also noted that the EU’s observations were not intended to judge the credibility of the election process.

Itodo, however, quickly added that Nigeria has an existing bilateral relationship with the international communities thus, does not and cannot exist in isolation in its dealings.

In his words; “I don’t think the intent of the EU’s report is to assess and make judgment as to the credibility of the elections process.”

Commenting on the reports coinciding with the ongoing post-election judicial process, Itodo explained that the reports were in no way whatsoever intended to influence the cases in court.

He further said; “There is nothing wrong with the timing of the European Union’s post-mortem report on Nigeria’s 2023 elections. I don’t think that the intention is to influence the current cases being handled by the court.

“It is not in any way an attempt to interfere with that process. It is just part of the practice in the election observation ecosystem

“The EU has a comprehensive framework for measuring and assessing elections based on certain values and principles of the country in our electoral law and constitution,” Itodo said.

The European Union Election Observer Mission to Nigeria, on Monday, had presented its report on the 2023 general elections to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, in which it had identified six areas for improvement in Nigeria’s subsequent elections.