POLITICS-NIGERIA: Parliamentary Polls Free and Fair – Observers

By Toye Olori Reprint | | Print |

Toye Olori

LAGOS, Apr 16 2003 (IPS) - Both international and local observers Wednesday described Nigeria’s parliamentary polls as "free and fair", but opposition parties have rejected the validity of the results.

The observers said only minor lapses such as late commencement of polls, as well as missing election materials and poor organisation were experienced during Saturday’s poll.

They urged the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to "correct these lapses" before the Apr 19 presidential poll.

”There were logistic problems in many states but generally the elections were free and fair. Voting materials were missing and the opening of thousands of polling stations in some states was delayed. As a result, collation process suffered from poor organisation, inadequate accommodation and ineffective lighting,” said Salim Ahmed Salim, former Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) who is leading the Commonwealth observer team to Nigeria.

The Commonwealth is an organisation of about 50 independent states which were formerly parts of the British Empire, established to encourage trade and friendly relations among its members.

”Now that preparations are being made for the Presidential and gubernatorial elections, it is time to consider how the shortcomings of the National Assembly elections can be overcome. This includes tightening up its planning so that all stations receive their essential materials in good time and open promptly,” Salim said.

By Wednesday afternoon, two-thirds of the votes had been counted. Out of 287 of the 360 House of Representatives seats that had been declared, the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) – of incumbent President Olusegun Obasanjo who is widely regarded to be re-elected on Saturday – won 170 of them.

Its nearest rival, the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) of the former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, had 81 seats while the Alliance of Democracy (AD) had 30.

In the 109-member Senate, the PDP had won 52 of the 82 seats declared so far. The ANPP had 25 and the AD five seats.

However, 12 political parties, including the All Nigeria People’s Party, met in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, Tuesday, and rejected the results of Saturday’s polls, describing them as ”spurious” and demanding their cancellation.

”We have reviewed all the procedures laid down for proper, fair and free conduct of the elections and found that there were abuses in the system and that the results emanating from such conduct of the election could not be good enough to be accepted,” said Don Etiebet, a spokesperson for the group.

”Proper arrangements were not made to get the election materials ready for smooth voting. PDP and security agents worked hand in hand to hijack these materials. Some of these results were so large that they did not match the number of people registered,” he alleged.

”We want INEC to accept there were lapses in the election and should cancel the results. Anything outside of this, we are not going to accept. Because we do not have any confidence in INEC to conduct the (Apr 19) presidential and gubernatorial elections,” Etiebet said.

But analysts say the 12 political parties – all of them new in Nigeria’s political field – failed to make any impact because they have yet to consolidate themselves. ”The 12 parties fielded candidates against entrenched political leaders with functional political structures complete with the paraphernalia of office, which they used to the disadvantage of the new parties,” one analyst said.