Release of EU election report untimely

As the country continues to ruminate on the last general elections and plan ahead given the opportunity created by the newly inaugurated Election Reform Panel to take another look at the polls, I just want to invite attention to the recent report of the European Union (EU) Observer Mission on the last April 2007 Elections. Much as Nigeria cannot be an island unto herself and much as foreign countries and organizations are welcome to monitor our elections, these countries and bodies should come in as partners to help us enrich and deepen our system. The report of the EU Observer mission, rich and laudable as it were, the timing of the release of the report and the tone of delivery left much to be desired. I think the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Maurice Iwu, also drew attention to this when he formally presented the report of the commission on the conduct of the elections to Nigerians last month.

In case many had forgotten, the Head of EU Observer Mission to Nigeria released the mission’s report at a world press conference in Abuja where he borrowed all the adjectives in the world to pooh pooh the election. I have little or no qualms at all with the language of delivery of the report, which is derogatory of Nigeria and Nigerians, to say the least. But we courted the infamy ourselves through the conduct of politicians in their desperation to win the election at all cost and the electoral officials and security agents who colluded with these corrupt politicians.

This desperation partly led to the kind of elections that we had and the conclusion of many local and international observers that the elections were characterized by all kinds of irregularities. But we need to begin to question the motif of these so-called election observers. Imagine the timing of the release of the EU report on the election. Methinks, the timing was deliberate to create more problems for the country and rock the national boat. The EU mission waited until the various election tribunals were right in the thick of looking at the petitions filed by some aggrieved candidates in respect of the election to come up with its damning verdict. That was not good enough. However, that is not even all EU mission did. Answering a question at the press conference where the Observer mission released the report, the head of the mission openly said aggrieved parties could come for its report and even plead such at the tribunal.Of what use was that if it was not meant to create crisis?

Pray how many observer missions monitored the 2000 US election that was massively rigged in Florida? How many of them tried to rock the US boat that was guarded jealously by that country’s judiciary in its judgment and media in their reportage? The lesson for us as country, as I see it, is that may be we need to properly scrutinize the papers of these so-called observers before we allow them in; otherwise they will complicate our situation for us.

Ibidapo Balogun, Abuja

WAEC, release my result

I wrote a letter through the Ibadan office 6 months ago, I searched through the internet to see if the result has been released, but to no avail. I sat for the Nov./Dec. 2004 G.C.E. Examination. The information related to the examination is as follow:

Form No. 0254428
Centre No. 5311603
Candidate No. 228 card information No. (W30377934)
Card Pin — (163758272847)

Kindly consider my plight and release my result.

Salami Adesina Razaq,
P.O. Box 495,
Ogbomoso.