EU team witnessed election fraud in Nigeria

Date: 24/04/03

By David Cronin

One in four members of an EU team observing elections in Nigeria last Saturday (19 April) directly witnessed one or more cases of election fraud.

The finding comes in a report from the 118 observers, led by Dutch MEP Max van Berg, which raises questions about the manner in which Olusegun Obasanjo won a presidential poll with more than 60 of the vote, and also the conduct of simultaneous polls to fill state governorships.

The most serious cases of election fraud witnessed included:

• Two party agents marking unused ballots for governor of the state of Kaduna and for federal president. The agents came from Obasanjo's People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) of his chief rival Muhammadu Buhari;
• party agents in the state of Imo signing a results' sheet claiming that 200 more votes had been cast than actually were. The agents received cash bribes;
• a policeman caught stuffing voting slips into a box in Enugu state, and;
• children being allowed to vote in many cases, without it being clear whether they were on the electoral register or were authorised to stand in proxy for adults.

The report describes as "exceptionally high" the fact that 25 of the observers saw at least one case of fraud.

It lists six states - Cross River, Delta, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna and Rivers - where the observers feel the flaws were so grave that the elections there "lack credibility".

And it highlights concerns about the Independent National Election Commission (INEC), which was supposed to oversee that the polls were conducted in a free and fair manner, being accused of political bias. The mission found some evidence to support that claim - in Kaduna, it says, "INEC staff was observed thumb-printing ballots in favour of the ruling party".

Further criticism is directed to the Nigerian press for failing to provide balanced coverage.

"Newspapers did not remain impartial," the report says. "Federally owned newspapers favoured the ruling party in terms of space and tone, while privately owned newspapers tended to favour candidates of their choice. The media served to confuse rather than clarify the issues."

One in four members of an EU team observing elections in Nigeria on 19 April 2003 directly witnessed one or more cases of election fraud.