Labour Party Criticize FG for Discrediting EU Report on 2023 General Elections

The Labour Party (LP) has criticized the federal government for dismissing a report by the European Union (EU) election observation mission on the just-concluded general election. The EU chief observer, Barry Andrews, had faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the operational challenges and glitches experienced with the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) and the result viewing portal. Andrews said the discrepancies in the elections severely damaged public confidence in the electoral body.

Reacting to the federal government’s statement, Obiora Ifoh, LP national publicity secretary, described the statement as a “face-saving measure.” He noted that the European Union’s report is only one out of many submissions by other international observers who have described the outcome of the election as a sham. “It will interest the government to note that the European Union’s report is only one out of numerous submissions by other international observers who have described the outcome of the election as a sham and an exercise that did not reflect the will of the majority of Nigerians,” the statement reads.

The LP urged the federal government to take the report seriously and address the issues raised by the EU. The party also called on the government to ensure that future elections are free, fair, and transparent. It will be recalled that the EU had deployed 120 observers to monitor the general election in Nigeria. The observers were deployed across the country to assess the electoral process, including the legal framework, the work of the election administration, voter registration, party campaigns, and the media.