Six EU's priority recommendations for Nigeria'23 - ITREALMS

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The European Union Election Observation Mission for the Nigeria 2023 has released its final report for 25 February and 18 March 2023 general elections, with six priority recommendations, reports ITREALMS.

Some of the priority recommendations of the 92 page report includes the need to protect the interest of the voters through certainty of law for all stages and aspects of electoral processes.

This, EU said in the final report available to ITREALMS, could be done by eliminating from electoral law and regulations errors and ambiguities to avoid potential for conflicting interpretations, and ensuring the revision processes are inclusive.


The recommendations highlighted the need to establish a robust operational framework for the independence, integrity, and efficiency of electoral administration through an inclusive and publicly accountable mechanism for selecting candidates to the posts of INEC commissioners and RECs based on clear criteria of evaluation of merits, qualifications, and verified non-partisanship.

The third recommendation focused on protecting the free expression of the will of the voter and integrity of elections by establishing a robust, transparent, and easily verifiable results processing system with clear rules. These include uploading polling unit results from the polling unit only and in real time, at each level of collation results forms to be uploaded in real time, and all forms to be published in an easily trackable and scrapable database format.

While the fourth harps on affording adequate protection to freedom of expression by developing a comprehensive operational framework underpinned by the skills and means for ensuring prompt investigation and prosecution of all types of attacks against media practitioners.

Whereas the fifth was on undertaking urgent and robust affirmative action to ensure meaningful women’s representation through special measures in line with the Beijing principles and the National Gender Policy to increase the representation of women as candidates and in elected office, further supported by cross-sectoral, intensified, and sustained capacity building and sensitisation to eliminate discrimination.

Finally, EU urged the Federal Government to address impunity for electoral offences through robust, well-defined, and effective inter-agency co-ordination governed by clear rules on non-partisanship, optimisation of resources, delivery of effective investigation and sanctioning, and provision of regular public consolidated information on outcomes.

*Remmy Nweke/DoP