Coalition rejects European Union’s report on 2023 elections

Coalition for a Better Nigeria, a coalition of pro–democracy groups, has frowned at the European Union (EU) mission’s report on the 2023 general elections, saying it was targeted at influencing the judgement as presidential election petition tribunal resumes sitting.

The group, in a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Comrade Awa Bamiji, said the report clearly showed that they are expecting the country to be engaging in post-election crisis for them to be “making their cool gains through sale of arms and ammunition.”

“It’s preposterous and highly illogical for the camps of opposition to be celebrating the biased report of the European Union observers on the 2023 elections as presidential tribunal resumes sitting.

“Where were they, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) broke into four irreconcilable factions of Atiku Abubakar; Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP); Rabiu Kwakwaso of New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) and Nyesom Wike-led G-5 Governors. Three of them individually facing the largest political party in Africa, with 21 state governors, plus the governors of Rivers and Oyo States from the G-5 will only lead to one outcome- victory for the APC.

“Where were they, when the LP’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, based his electioneering campaign on ethnicity and religion, with the adverse effects on the All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled states of Lagos, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Nassarawa, Plateau and others during the presidential election?

“Their skewed report means they were unhappy with the outcome of the election and even praying for the total collapse of the APC-led Federal Government into the hands of terribly weak opposition candidate like Peter Obi, without any local government councillor before the presidential election. This could best be described as civilian coup and we are sure that no single nation in Europe has ever experienced this, but there’s nothing bad in it, once it’s happening on African continent and it suits their own interest as our colonial masters.

“Apart from the freest and fairest June 12, 1993 presidential election, the electorate themselves adjudged that there was a substantial improvement in the last elections over the previous ones. With the use of BVAS, the number of violent spots, number of deaths and number of hoodlums arrested during the the election were drastically reduced.

“The authors of the report were aware of the date of resumption of tribunal sitting and they think, the best time to fire the spirit of opposition against the FG is now.

“The report won’t have any iota of influence on the outcome of the tribunal sitting because if the same judiciary was able to survive the local intimidation and harassment of this same oppositions right inside the tribunal premises, how much is the Paper Tiger Report coming from the European Union observers as their own official judgement on the election of their former colony, now Republic in the global space,” he said.

According to Awa, President Bola Tinubu campaigned vigorously more than any opposition candidates and sold himself as human and physical developer for decades with indomitable campaign structure manned by professionals.

He added that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also conducted free and fair election, stressing that the result indicated that the electorate are ready to embrace rotational presidency.

He called on all patriotic Nigerians to remain calm in the face of EU mission report’s provocation, adding that EU, as a foreign opposition, do not want the nation to rest after the general elections.