The final report of the European Union (EU) election observation mission in Nigeria on the 2023 elections, according to Femi Falana, a senior attorney of Nigeria (SAN), cannot be trusted.
In an interview with Channels Television on Friday, Falana claimed that Nigerians’ celebration or discussion of the EU mission report on the elections smacked of colonial mentality.
The EU mission’s report on the general election was given in Abuja on Tuesday.
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The assessment, according to the chief observer, Barry Andrews, was based on an examination of Nigeria’s adherence to its regional and international commitments to hold democratic elections.
The observation team said the elections exposed enduring systemic weaknesses that needed to be corrected.
Reacting to the development, the human rights lawyer said the reports by local media regarding the elections were “more credible” than what the EU election observers presented.
“I’m very reluctant to speak about the report of the EU observers team because it smacks of colonial mentality for us in this age and time to be celebrating the report of the EU observers,” Falana said.
“I have found reports in the local media much more credible than the report of the EU. We should not waste our time debating what the EU observers found.
“For instance, they were saying that about 97 people were killed. The local media have reported about 137 deaths and that has been confirmed by the human rights community.
“I can count other areas that one cannot rely upon.”
