“EU’s report cannot tell us who won election in Nigeria” – Keyamo

Festus Keyamo, a spokesperson for the defunct Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, has said that the European Union Observer Mission (EUOM) 2023 general elections report is not a document that can tell who won the election in Nigeria but rather just a report of the ‘irregularities’ noticed and recommendations for improvement in future elections.

Recall that the EUOM, in its report less than a week ago, pointed out some flaws in the general election and made recommendations to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, while reacting via his official Twitter page stated that there is no election worldwide without irregularities.

He explained that the issue is whether the supposed irregularities affected the election outcome.

According to him, the EU’s report is not a document that tells who won or lost an election.

He stated, “It is only a forensic examination of the entire process by the judiciary that can determine the extent to which the supposed ‘irregularities’ affected the outcome of the elections. And there are legal rules already laid down to achieve this.

“The EU report is NOT (and cannot be) a document that tells you who won or lost an election. It only reports the ‘irregularities’ noticed and recommends improvement in future elections.

“Therefore, all the hoopla over that EU report is neither here nor there when it comes to legitimizing or delegitimizing the government of the day. That power or responsibility belongs to the Judiciary,” he said.

Recall INEC had declared Tinubu, the winner of the presidential election.

However, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party are currently at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, challenging the victory of Tinubu.