EU-EOM commends INEC on conduct of elections

EU-EOM commends INEC on conduct of elections

European Union Election Observation Mission on 2011 General Elections in Nigeria has commended the Electoral Commission for the successful conduct of the April elections.

The Chief Observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM), Alojz Peterle, made the commendation during the presentation of the Mission’s Final Report in Abuja.

According to him, “overall, the 2011 elections marked an important improvement compared to all polls observed previously by the European Union in Nigeria. However, short comings were noticed and elements identified which need to be enhanced”.

The Chief Observer also commended the role of Civil Society Organisations in promoting the rule of law, the adherence to election regulations and encouragement of an overall orderly and transparent electoral process must be considered positive.

Report analysis

In the report, 50 recommendations were suggested by the EU- EOM to further improve the Legal Framework, Election Administration, Voter Registration, Political Parties, Voter Education, the Media, Human Rights, Women Participation in the Electoral Process, Petition and Appeals, Polling and Collation, Follow-up and Public Support.

It was observed that 40 percent of the staff and 36 percent of the presiding officers were female; the proportion of women was substantially lower among collation officers.

Similarly, the group noted that women were consistently under-represented in the legislature and within the leadership structure.  In their words, “so far, no woman has been elected as Governor in Nigeria. The expressed commitment by the government to implement the National Gender Policy which provides for a minimum of 35 percent representation of women at all levels of political participation, is positive and should be further strengthened”.

Interestingly, the report noted that Nigeria has implemented several recommendations suggested by the 2007 EU EOM and the 2008 Electoral Reform Committees (ERC) report. The Constitution as well as relevant laws was amended and issues addressed, affecting the quality and credibility of the 2007 General Elections.

Drawbacks

However, the report stated that, the amendments failed to introduce some of the Electoral Resident Commissioners recommendations, such as the independent appointment of the Chair of INEC and the Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC), the establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission, a Political Parties Registration and Regulatory Commission, and provisions for independent candidates to run for office.

It is recommended that these issues are addressed in future reforms of the legislative framework.

Fact checks

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) was deployed in Nigeria from 1 March to 21 May 2011 following an invitation of INEC. The EU EOM was led by Chief Observer Alojz Peterle, a Member of the European Parliament and comprised of 141 observers who were deployed to all the States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

PR/Qasim