There is anxiety in political
circles over the composition of some of the international observer missions
deployed in the country for the general elections. The presidential election is
slated for Saturday.
The popular thinking is that
former President Olusegun Obasanjo may have been influential to the composition
and emergence of some of the chairmen of some of the observer groups.
The ex-President, who is backing
former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, is suspected to have sold an agenda to
these observers, based on a perception
of what a source described as a “willy-nilly” regime change.
Some of the groups are suspected
to be in the country to “work to the answer” by prejudging the election as “not
free, fair and credible” — a perception that has been debunked.
But it was gathered that the
Federal Government is “paying keen interest” to their activities.
The Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) has accredited 144 observer groups, including 116
domestic and 28 international teams.
The foreign groups are: African Bar Association; African Parliament of The Civil Society;
African Union; British High Commission; Democrat Union of Africa; ECOWAS;
Elections Cameroon, Republic of Cameroon; and the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy
in Africa.
Theere are also Embassy of
France; Embassy of Japan; Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt; Embassy of The
Republic of Korea; European Centre for Electoral Support; European Union;
German International Agency; High
Commission of Canada; and the
International Foundation For Electoral System.
The International Human Rights
Commission; International Peace Commission; International Republican Institute;
the National Democratic Institute; the Network for Solidarity; and the
Empowerment and Transformation for All were also accredited to cover the
elections.
Other international observers are
Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation; Pan African Women Projects; Pan African Youth Training and Enlightenment
Centre; Queen Zara Foundation for Human
Resources Development; The Commonwealth; and the United States Embassy.
Some of the observer groups are
being led by some ex-leaders, including
ex-Tanzanian President Dr. Jakaya Kikwete (Commonwealth Observer Group);
former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn (African Union); ex-Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (ECOWAS); and Maria Arena
(the Chief Observer, European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to
Nigeria).
Ms Arena is a member of the
European Parliament from Belgium. Kikwete is “a well known friend of Obasanjo”
a source said, adding: “He was regular at the Ota Farm House Dialogue in the
eighties. They even worked together at the African Union on the NEPAD
programme.
Obasanjo is also believed to be
close to Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf. “We all know Nigeria’s role in Liberia during the
Obasanjo Presidency,” the source said, pleading not to be named because he is
not permitted to talk to the media.
Another source spoke of an
intelligence report that some of the observer groups are in Nigeria to work in
line with “pre-determined agenda” of their countries. Besides, the source noted
that it was wrong for some ambassador to be moving round the country on
“election tourism” without the foreign minister’s permission.
The Federal Government had last
week raised the alarm that the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party( PDP)
was planning to send a delegation to some western capitals.
A source, who spoke in
confidence, said: “The security report available to the government indicated
that some foreign observer groups are already biased and they are in the
country to act out a script already written for them.
“Some countries already accused
of interfering in the internal affairs of Nigeria have exerted much influence
on the observer missions to discredit the poll.
“These groups have prejudged the
election as not free, fair and credible. This is going to be their ultimate
verdict, irrespective of what the Independent National Electoral Commission (
INEC) does.
“The most disturbing in the
security report is the fact that some chairmen and members of these observer
groups have links with a former President who is suspected to have influenced
their choices for a purpose.
“A few of them had been visiting
the ex-President in the past and some were even helped to power through the
international goodwill of the ex-leader.”
The intelligence source added
that some of the observers may have been playing into the hands of those
plotting “an electoral stalemate and drag Nigeria into a political crisis to
put an interim government in place”.
“They are ready to do whatever
they can to get President Muhammadu Buhari out of power.”
Responding to a question, the
source said the surveillance on some observer groups showed that they were
violating the code of conduct put in place by INEC.
On its website, INEC says: “All
accredited observers shall abide by the code of conduct for election observers,
which is available for download on the INEC website (www.inecnigeria.org).
“INEC reserves the right to
cancel and withdraw the accreditation of any organisation if its members or
agents breach the code of conduct.’’
But some missions have already
assured Nigerians that they will be impartial.
The Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Group, Dr.
Jakaya Kiwete, on Monday said the mission will be impartial in its assessment
of the elections.
He said the group will issue an interim statement on its preliminary
findings on the first set of elections on February 18.
He said the18-man team of
observers was drawn from Africa, Asia,
Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
They were deployed to observe the
opening, voting, closing, counting and the results management processes.
This is the sixth time a
Commonwealth Observer Group will be observing elections in Nigeria since 1999.
Kikwete, a former President of
Tanzania, made the clarifications in a statement in Abuja against the backdrop
of anxiety over the roles of the group and others.
He said: “Our Group was constituted following an
invitation from the Independent National Election Commission, drawing together
18 eminent persons from across the different regions of the Commonwealth,
including Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
“We come in our own individual
capacities, bringing a wide range of expertise in the areas of election
administration, political development, law, human rights, civil society,
gender, youth, as well as media.
“As a group, we are here to
observe the organisation and conduct of the election process as a whole, and
will form an impartial and independent assessment of its credibility.
“The Commonwealth Observer Group
will consider the pre-election period, polling day itself, as well as the
post-election period. Our main task is to assess whether the elections have
been conducted according to the national, regional and international standards
to which Nigeria has committed itself, including its own laws.
“On election day, we will observe
the opening, voting, closing, counting and the results management processes.”
The group will submit a final
report to the Commonwealth Secretary-General and, thereafter, share with the
Government of Nigeria, INEC, political parties, Commonwealth governments, then
make it public.
The group expressed hope that its
presence will confirm the unwavering solidarity of the Commonwealth with
Nigeria as the country conducts the elections.
The group however encouraged all
citizens to “play their part in ensuring peaceful and credible elections this
weekend.”
The Head of EU EOM, Maria Arena,
said: “It is a great honour for me to lead this important EU Election
Observation Mission to Nigeria. I am hopeful that our observation will provide
a meaningful contribution to the electoral and democratic process in Nigeria.”
In a statement, the EU EOM said:
“The EU only deploys an election observation mission when it is invited to do
so by the authorities of a country. The
EU has been invited to observe all of the general elections in Nigeria since
1999. Thus, this is the sixth time the EU is observing elections in Nigeria.
“The Independent National
Electoral Commission invited the EU to deploy an observation mission for the
2019 general elections.
“EU election observation missions
give commentary and analysis, and make recommendations about the electoral
process. EU election observation missions are impartial, do not interfere in
the electoral process, and operate according to a strict code of conduct.”
But the Buhari Media
Organisation( BMO) has cautioned Kikwete against being used by Obasanjo former
President.
A statement by the Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary
of BMO, Cassidy Madueke, the group said:
“Many Nigerians are worried that the head of the Commonwealth observer group
may be swayed by Obasanjo’s skewed pre-election position that the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not have the integrity to conduct
free, fair and credible elections.
“This concern, we know, is as a
result of the long-standing friendship between the two former Presidents which
began long before Kikwete became the head of the Tanzania government in 2005.
But we are encouraged by the values that the Commonwealth holds sacrosanct, and
the fact that the head of the election observer team has a track record as a
peacemaker, especially in the Great Lakes region of East Africa.
“So we hope that Kikwete would
resist the pressure that will surely come from former President Obasanjo who
believes that he has a divine role to determine the winner of the Presidential
election.”
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APC party are just BIG problem to Nigeria and Nigerians, their body language sounds as if there has never been election in this country, their body language speaks do or die, only God will deliver this country from wicked and lack of conscience from this people call cabal surrounding Buhari
ReplyDeleteMind you it is the cabal that is ruling this country not Buhari
ReplyDelete