50 Political Parties Fault EU Report, Say 2019 Election Free, Fair, Credible

By Adedayo Akinwale and Udora Orizu in Abuja

About 50 presidential candidates of different political parties on Tuesday, faulted European Union report which said that the 2019 general election lacked of transparency, insisting that the elections were free, fair and credible.

The political parties which held a world press conference on the 2019 presidential election review in Abuja, stated that the just concluded 2019 presidential election was the most eventful in the country’s democratic journey.

Speaking on behalf of the parties, the presidential candidate of Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance (APDA), Shittu Mohammed, claimed the presidential candidates and political party leaders, thoroughly x-rayed the 2019 election and came to the conclusion that INEC performed credibly well.

According to Mohammed, “The unfavourable and hostile environment the election management body operated under, and the extant laws under which the elections were conducted, (we) have come to the emphatic conclusion that INEC performed creditably well and we hereby unequivocally reaffirm our confidence in INEC for its performance against all odds in the conduct of the 2019 General Election.”

“There were several innovations introduced by INEC which made the 2019 elections freer, fairer and more credible than what was obtainable in the past elections such as the simultaneous accreditation and voting; the introduction of assistive innovations for physically challenged voters; the Continuous Voter Registration which added fourteen (14) million new voters to the register were but a few of the innovations introduced by INEC.”

“Therefore, the report of the European Union Election Observation Mission released over a week ago wherein they alleged a lack of transparency in the guidelines of election is bewildering. With all due respect to the EUEOM, it s left to Nigerians to decide how we conduct our 2019 general elections.”

More details later…