EU set to release its report on polls today

By Victoria Ojeme

DESPITE the hitches that occasioned last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly polls, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has asked the presidential candidates to accept the results at the polling stations across the country in good faith.

The ECOWAS Observations Mission in a preliminary report released in Abuja on Sunday, asked aggrieved candidates to seek legal redress as stipulated in Nigeria’s laws rather than resort to any other action.

The ECOWAS Director of Political Affairs, Dr Remi Ajibewa at a preliminary declaration yesterday in Abuja, said,”despite the pockets of incidents and logistical challenges, the ECOWAS Observation Mission is persuaded that the general election of March 28, 2015 meets the criteria of being free and transparent.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan (L), and APC main opposition party’s presidential candidate Mohammadu Buhari shake hands under the eyes of Chairman of the Abuja Peace Accord former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar (C), after signing the renewal of the pledges for peaceful elections on March 26, 2015 in Abuja.  AFP PHOTO

“The Mission also commends the enthusiasm, maturity, patience and sense of civic responsibility demonstrated by the electorate. It hopes that the same spirit of respect for order and discipline will characterise the rest of the electoral process.

The commission noted that the late arrival of materials in many polling booths only contributed to delay in accreditation of voters and voting process.

The African Union Election Observer Mission, Amos Sawyer said that the team visited 319 polling units comprising 69% urban and 31% rural centres to monitor the elections.

Sawyer, who is the former Liberian President, said, “The outcome of the elections showed that 100% of the PVCs were authenticated while 59% did not authenticate the fingerprints.

“In the polling units visited by the AU observers, 23 percent opened on time. Out of the 77 % of the polling units that opened late, 57 %opened beyond an hour,” Sawyer said.

The EU Observer Mission in Nigeria is set to release its preliminary report on the election today.