Protesters Storm EU Office Over Election Report

Members of Coalition of Civil Society Organisations and Political Parties for Good Governance (CCSOPPGG) have besieged the European Union office in protest against its report on the 2023 presidential election.

The coalition which mobilised some other Nigerians in their hundreds warned the European Union against instigating another war in Nigeria through what it described as the international body’s “biased” report on the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In its report which was tendered before the presidential petitions court in Abuja, the EU faulted the 2023 general election, premising its report on alleged violence, killings and vote buying.

The protesters who carried placards with different inscriptions staged a peaceful walk through the Central Area to the head office of the European Union in Abuja.

Addressing officials of the EU who were on ground to receive the protesters, leader of the coalition, Dr Lillian Ene Ogbole, accused the EU of deliberately attempting to malign the Nigerian government and its leaders.

Noting that every election comes with peculiar problems and Nigeria is not an inception, Ogbole wondered how possible less than fifty people from the European Union would come to Nigeria and observe an election of over 17,6000 polling units and then arrive at a conclusion with just 1,000 polling units of election centres in its report.

She stated: “As you can see, we are here with thousands of patriotic Nigerians who have come specifically to raise concern about the presentation and the reports of the European Union concerning the just concluded elections.

“We have come to register unequivocally that we are not satisfied with the report of the European Union as a matter of fact, we are of the opinion that the report is not just ridiculous but a deliberate act to slides the Nigerian entity and of course by implications our leaders and the government of Nigeria. We are all Nigerians here. We were all here during the just concluded election.

“I would like to say to you very clearly that there is nowhere election in the world that is devoid of crisis and hitches. Every election in the world both in the United States of America, in the Great Britain both in Ireland and even the European Union countries.

“Yes, we are aware that the world is a global village. Therefore, people from different parts of the world converge in various countries during elections to monitor, observe and make presentations like the EU has done but what we found unnecessary, what we found not worthy is the manner in which the report was made.

“The election that just concluded in Nigeria that produced one of the man alive today in the person of his excellency, distinguished Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu was one of the most transparent election in the history of Nigeria. We were taking back When the report came, the media was wash with the report of the European Union carefully and specifically saying that the election was fraudulent; that the election felt short of requirements of every credible election in the world.

“I don’t know where that is coming from. If it is the election that we were all part of, that we all fought vigorously with our lives and everything we have as Patriots and well-meaning Nigerians to ensure that the election held.”

The coalition noted that if it is the same election that the EU report is referring to, then something is fishy somewhere, even as it queried why the EU had to take its reports to the election petitions tribunal.

The CSOs continued: “You would also agree with me that the report of the European Union is enough to trigger a national problem, is enough to trigger a national chaos, our security is at stake, our sovereignty is at stake, our unity is at stake.

“Nigeria is a great country in Africa, the most populated country in west Africa and the pride of the African countries. If the European Union is beginning to address our election and of course whatever is daring the way they have presented this report then we are scared. We are scared not just going to affect Nigeria as a country but is going to affect the whole of the African countries in the country.

“We understand the role they played but again there comes a time where we have to stop. They should know where to stop and they should know where to continue. Why on earth should they take the report of this election to the tribunal. Is there a report should be recieved?

“There are procedures and they have procedures in their counties, when they come to Nigeria, they act out of protocol. They must begin to have protocols, they must begin to respect our rule of law, they must begin to respect our Nigerian People.”

The coalition told the EU officials that Nigerians were not forced to vote Tinubu but were convinced with his track records and capacity.

Ogbole continued: “We are saying enough is enough. We have a president who is doing very well, we have a president that have started on a right footing, we have a president that is doing what several presidents in Nigeria have not been able to do. All that we need at this point is to support him. He is our Son, and we are his children, he is our leader and we willingly voted for him.

“No man, no woman, no country compelled us to vote for him. It is our right to vote for him. It is our right to vote for the candidate of our choice and that was what exactly what we exhibited in the last election. Our election we all witness was free to an extent which was almost 100 percent free.

“It was an election that was devoid of so many things we used to witness in the past. Our democracy is growing in an accelerated rate and we must warn the international community to take cognisance of that. We want to let them know that never again! Never again!! Never!!!”