EU election report: ”The mentalities of many Africans have been so skewed to see any kind of report or data with the imprimatur of any organisation or body from Europe or America as unquestionable or from God” – Festus Keyamo

Festus Keyamo, the former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, has emphasized that the European Union Observer Mission (EUOM) 2023 general elections report cannot undermine the legitimacy of the government led by President Bola Tinubu. Keyamo’s remarks came in response to the recent EU report, which highlighted some flaws in the general election and provided recommendations to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to the EU Electoral Observer Mission, trust in the INEC has been significantly eroded, particularly due to the failure to electronically upload the presidential election results. The EU report identified six areas that need improvement in Nigeria’s electoral process going forward, stressing the need for legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability, as the presidential election exposed persistent systemic weaknesses.

Taking to his Twitter account, Keyamo expressed his belief that no election worldwide is free from irregularities. He further commented that the mindset of many Africans has been conditioned to regard any report or data from European or American organizations as unquestionable, akin to information from a divine source.

He wrote; ‘’Declaring certain aspects of an election or electoral process as ‘flawed’ is not synonymous as saying the whole process was a cataclysmic failure. This is the simple difference a whole bunch of people have failed to realise.

THERE IS NO SINGLE ELECTION IN THE ENTIRE WORLD THAT WOULD NOT RECORD CERTAIN COMPLAINTS OF IRREGULARITIES IN CERTAIN AREAS. The REAL ISSUE to determine is whether those supposed irregularities substantially affected the election to the extent that the loser(s) could have won or the winner could have lost. If you cancel an entire process each time some irregularities happen or are reported, we may conduct an election 100 times and no winner would be announced.

It is only a forensic examination of the entire process by the judiciary that can clearly determine the extent the supposed ‘irregularities’ affected the final outcome of the elections. And there are legal rules already laid down to achieve this. The EU report is NOT (and cannot be) a document that tells you who won or lost an election. It only reports the ‘irregularities’ noticed and makes recommendations for improvement in future elections.

Therefore, all the hoopla over that EU report is neither here nor there when it comes to legitimising or delegitimising the government of the day. That power or responsibility belongs to the judiciary.

I hope those who are now gyrating excitedly as if they are ‘speaking in tongues’ over the EU report will also have the spirit and ‘anointing’ to accept and embrace the actual forensic judgment by our properly constituted law courts when they eventually decide on the 2023 elections.

Till then, as a very senior member of the Bar, I hold my peace and I say no more.

Funny thing is, the mentalities of many Africans have been so skewed to see any kind of report or data with the imprimatur of any organisation or body from Europe or America, especially as regards Africa or any African country, as an unquestionable report or data from God!”