Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured the European Union (EU) of improved elections going forward.
In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari while welcoming the report of the EU on 2019 general elections in Nigeria, promised to analyse it fully and act on the recommendations.
He noted that the EU observers had been invited to the country by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and welcomed by his government.
According to him, “this was a clear indication of the administration’s good intentions, commitment to a purely democratic process, and desire to improve for the next elections.”
The EU noted in their report that there were marked improvements from previous elections, although stating that more work needed to be done.
President Buhari assured that his administration would work with all Nigerian citizens, state institutions, parties, civil society, the media and other experts to make sure that the improvements recommended by the EU were implemented, and that those areas of concern were addressed.
He said it was noteworthy that INEC was in receipt of a number of recommendations that form a part of the EU report.
He assured that the commission was in safe hands and happy that they were currently engaged in root and branch reviews of the 2019 general elections and would input lessons learned into its recommendations for electoral and constitutional reforms.
“We believe that the commission conducted a good election and will continue to improve on its processes and procedures.
“While it is regretted that the elections in a few parts of the country witnessed some violence, among other shortcomings highlighted by the EU, we note however that none of these hitches affected the overall outcome of the elections.
“Thankfully, EU did not question the results of the presidential election.
“This is further proof that the polls reflected the overall will of Nigerians, and that the world is solidly behind the election of President Buhari for a second term,” he said.