EU DENIES FAVOURING BUHARI IN 2015 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

• Commends Jonathan for sacrificing personal ambition for public interest

The European Union (EU) has denied the perception in some quarters that it favoured a particular candidate above the other in the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria, stressing that the EU was more interested in deepening democracy and the electoral process than who emerged president.

Former Chief Observer of the 2015 EU Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) and member of the European Parliament, Santiago Fisas, who made the clarification in Abuja at the weekend in response to questions from journalists on his assessment of the 2015 polls, also commended former President Goodluck Jonathan for sacrificing his personal ambition for the interest of the people.

"The international community was not in favour of any candidate. The election was done in a proper way and I praise former President Goodluck Jonathan for accepting defeat. I think it has proved that he is a man of the state that he put the interest of Nigeria before his own interest.

"That is an example in Nigeria and for many countries in Africa to follow, he accepted that he lost the election to another party," he said.

Fisas who disclosed that the mission was in Nigeria to assess the current electoral reform process and the extent to which previous EU Election Observation Mission recommendations had been addressed, commended the National Assembly for the progress made so far in the constitutional and electoral law amendments.

He however called for expedited action on the amendment process, noting that "for election reforms to be effective, amendments need to be adopted as soon as possible".

He further added that there was need for the implementation to start well before 2019 general election.

Fisas harped on inclusive, transparent and credible elections that will enjoy public and political confidence, which according to him was crucial for Nigeria's democracy.

While the mission commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for what it described as its increasing initiatives, including improvement in the continuous voter registration exercise and the merging of accreditation and voting process for off-cycle elections, it identified areas that had not been addressed, which it said require urgent attention.

The areas include provisions empowering INEC to sanction campaign violations, increased transparency in the publication of results, and reinforcement of policies to better integrate women and youths into the political process.

"We know to run for elections in Nigeria is quite expensive. We also know that campaigns are costly, so I believe that political parties should help women in campaigning and it is very important to promote the participation of women in politics from the local level," he said.

"Security is important and the people must be free to go to vote. It is important that Nigeria merges the accreditation and voting during elections, as this is important for the comfort of people," he added.

He also advised political parties to ensure internal democracy by ensuring that their primaries are done in a democratic way, adding: "It is important to know the background of the candidates and be sure they are the right people to run for elections.