Nigeria Election 2023: According to the EU Observation Mission, inadequate planning and other factors affected the results.

At a news conference held at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja on Monday, the European Union's Election Observation Mission gave a preliminary report on their observations of Nigeria's general election in 2023.

In his speech, the mission's chief observer, Barry Andrews, revealed that there were 110 observers overall, including 96 short-term observers and representatives of the European Parliament as well as the mission's 11 core team members.

He said that extensive claims of vote-buying, voter misinformation, and a lack of preparation at crucial points in the electoral process all contributed to the poor quality of the elections.

Basic rights to assemble and move around were mostly protected, but the latter were not fully exercised due to inadequate planning, security risks, and ongoing naira and fuel shortages. Vote buying was widely suspected, and numerous political office holders abused their incumbency to tilt the playing field.
Overall, stakeholders had indicated trust in INEC's impartiality, professionalism, and voter education initiatives; but, this confidence had declined in the run-up to the elections.
On election day, trust in INEC was considered to further decline as a result of delayed polling processes and information gaps relating to much-anticipated access to results on its Results Viewing Portal. INEC lacked effective preparation and openness during important stages of the electoral process.

"The implementation of the IReV and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the elections in 2023 was seen as a crucial step in ensuring the legitimacy and integrity of elections. However, a lack of knowledge about the election technologies, a poor mock testing exercise, and a delay in technical personnel training reduced expectations and created room for rumor and confusion.
While praising voters' turnout at the polls, Andrew said that the EU would continue to keep an eye on the tallying of votes as well as the March 11 governorship and state assembly elections. He added that in order to avoid meddling in the process, the EU would present its final reports three months after the conclusion of the election processes.

"The mission will continue its operations through March 11 for the gubernatorial and local state council elections, continuing to watch the ongoing process relating to the presidential and National Assembly elections until it is concluded. Our mission will give a final report with suggestions, resolving issues, three months after the procedure is complete, he said.

Affirmative action, such as quotas, are called for in the manifestos of the major political parties in Nigeria, according to Head of European Parliament Delegates, Miss Evin Incir, who voiced worry that less than 10% of all candidates in the elections were women.