Nigeria Elections 2019: European Union Second Preliminary Statement (Full Original Statement)

This is the full text of the Second Preliminary Statement on Nigeria General Elections 2019 by the European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM). The Summary is presented first. The full text is in the PDF document displayed after the Summary.

European Union Election Observation Mission: Nigeria General Elections 2019

Second Preliminary Statement, Abuja, 11 March 2019

Systemic failings and electoral security problems show need for serious reform

This second preliminary statement of the EU election observation mission (EU EOM) is delivered before the completion of the entire electoral process. Critical stages of the state-level elections remain, including collation of results and adjudication of petitions. The EU EOM is now only in a position to comment on observation undertaken to date. The EU EOM will also publish a final report, containing full analysis and recommendations for future electoral processes. The mission was invited to observe the elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission and is independent in its conclusions under the leadership of the Chief Observer, Maria Arena, Member of the European Parliament.

Summary

This governorship and State House of Assembly elections on 9 March followed the presidential and National Assembly elections held on 23 February. This second EU Election Observation Mission preliminary statement supplements the first issued on 25 February.

• Election operations for the governorship and state assembly elections improved, with EU observers more positively assessing polling procedures. However the elections were marked by an overall low turnout. There was also violence, including against election officials and voters. Security forces obstructed observer access to some collation centres. The elections were competitive with overall freedom to campaign. However, there was misuse of incumbency, including on state media, preventing a level playing field. There was also pressure on local media outlets and journalists before and on election day. The systemic problems evident in the 2019 electoral process show the need for an inclusive national discussion on reform for greater electoral integrity and participation.
• Polling on 9 March was more orderly and was assessed more positively by EU observers. However turnout was consistently recognised to be overall very low. There was a significant improvement in opening times, with nearly two-thirds of polling units visited opening on time or less than 30 minutes late. The procedures for accreditation of voters were significantly improved, but secrecy of the vote was not always sufficiently protected.
• There was extensive live coverage of election day in the electronic media, increasing transparency of the process. However electoral transparency was limited by restrictions on journalists and observers. In five states, journalists from respected media houses were obstructed from reporting in certain areas. Civil society groups reported that military and security agents denied citizen observers access to eight collation centres in three states, and that they were further denied access in a number of others by INEC personnel or threatening groups. EU observers were prevented from entering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Rivers, apparently by military personnel. On 10 March, INEC suspended all electoral processes in Rivers citing widespread violence and disruption to the elections.
• On election day on 9 March, violent incidents were recorded in 19 states, with at least 17 people reported killed. Instances of violence during the general elections have had a negative effect on the process and discouraged participation in the elections. INEC has reported fatalities, abductions and sexual assault against officials.
• Candidates for the state elections resumed their campaigning after the announcement of federal results, and were overall able to campaign freely. Although the campaigns of key governorship candidates regularly used social networks to promote their messages, intensive online activities were apparent only in a few states. In the two weeks leading up to the state elections, EU observers saw various instances of misuse of state resources by both APC and PDP incumbents at state level.
• State-level media broadcast political debates in 21 states, giving voters the opportunity to directly compare candidates. In 12 states, incumbents or their main challengers refused to participate. All nine state-owned radio stations monitored by the EU Election Observation Mission served the interests of incumbent governors. This limited voters’ access to nonpartisan information and is not consistent with international standards for access to information and political pluralism in the media. In the fortnight before the state elections, one journalist was arrested, and the regulator closed one commercial radio station and issued fines to 45 others, which can foster self-censorship.
• On 9 March, there were high numbers of candidates, with 1,046 contesting the 29 governorship elections and 14,609 for the 991 State House of Assembly seats. The proportion of women candidates was low and generally less than in 2015, with those nominated primarily put forward by smaller parties with less chance of being elected. Despite the lowering of some constitutional age requirements, the two main parties hardly nominated anyone under 30.
• The 9 March state elections followed on from the 23 February federal elections. These were marked by low turnout, incidents of violence including against election administration staff, lack of transparency, and problems in the collation of results. On 27 February, INEC announced the official presidential results, with the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari from the All Progressives Congress (APC), winning with a sizeable margin of nearly four million votes. The candidate of the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, rejected the results and announced the party would contest the outcome in court. The turnout for the elections on 23 February went down to 28.6 million, or 34.7 per cent of registered voters as compared to 43.7 per cent in 2015, with wide variation between states.
• The national collation centre for the presidential election was open to party agents and observers, and was continuously televised. However inconsistent numbers, lack of clear checks and explanations, and insufficient public information undermined confidence in the integrity of the election. Polling was cancelled in many polling units without sufficient accountability, resulting in the annulment of voting for nearly 2.8 million registered voters. There was a large discrepancy of 1.66 million more registered voters, as announced by INEC on 14 January, compared to those announced by state returning officers during the collation of presidential results.
• Although prior to the elections, INEC and civil society made efforts to promote inclusion of persons with disabilities, only six reportedly contested the federal and state-level elections out of more than 20,000 candidates. On 9 March, EU observers saw that INEC’s initiatives aimed at facilitating the participation of voters with disabilities, such as priority queues and assistive devices, were not consistently implemented throughout the 22 states visited.

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) has been in Nigeria since 5 January 2019. The mission includes a core team of 11 experts and 40 long-term observers deployed to 20 locations on 21 January. The EU EOM issued its first preliminary statement on 25 February after the presidential and National Assembly elections. On 9 March, the EU EOM deployed 73 observers from 26 EU member states, Canada, Norway and Switzerland across 22 states. On election day, observers visited 223 polling units and 81 collation centres. Observers assess the whole electoral process against international obligations and commitments for democratic elections to which Nigeria is signatory, as well as the laws of Nigeria. The EU EOM is independent from EU institutions and member states. EU EOMs adhere to the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation signed at the United Nations in 2005. 

 For further information, please contact: Sarah Fradgley, EU EOM press officer, mobile: +234 906 253 9438 Website: www.eueomnigeria2019.eu, Facebook: @EUEOMNigeria19, Twitter: @EUEOMNigeria19

Full Text Of The European Union Second Preliminary Statement

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