 The EU European Union Mission Observer Mission Report announces that Nigeria's election lacked transparency. And speaking on this, the EU mission, the member states who are up to 110 and Canada, Norway, Switzerland, who monitored the conduct of our election said the electoral exercise has been undermined by inconsistencies. The observers said that their preliminary reports, the confidence in the National Electrical Commission significantly waned. They also said that the electoral body suffered lack of planning. Meanwhile, President Bola Metsinibu has rejected the reports of the European Union on the election observation mission, describing it as a product of poorly done desk job. He said the EU did not provide any substantial investment, viable enough to question the integrity of the 2023 election and its outcomes. Well, joining us at this cost is tonight and break it apart is Angul Angul, he is a public affairs analyst also joining us. Angul, so good to have you join us. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening, Nigeria. Good evening, the beautiful evening again. Thank you for joining us. Let's go straight to it. Many have, including INEC, have pushed back on this EU report. Let's look at the content of that report. Majorly, the EU observers are saying that mostly the attack is on INEC and what INEC had presented to Nigerians and across the world is the level of preparation and what's the observer's score on ground. The bigger question here is, let's start with INEC. INEC has been one of the first people to challenge the EU's position on that report. Is INEC in a position to actually be pushing back on reports such as this knowing that INEC served us a big bag of promises that then we only got crumbs at the end of the day? Thank you. The elections were mad with several and many, many irregularities. The contenders are at the presidential election petition tribunal at the IP Court. And some of those issues raised by the European Union are some of the issues that are in public domain, some of the issues that have been challenged at the election petition tribunal. It's quite unfortunate that the presidency, the Nigerian presidency is now the mad piece of INEC. It looks, it sounds really, really funny, but whatever was said by or whatever report or indictment of the European Union on the institution called INEC is what is in the public domain. Is it because it is the EU that is seeing it now? Nigerians have been on the street protesting. Somehow I was part and parcel of the protest. We even took a protest later to the European Union. Look, the election did not meet the lay down guidelines. Optitude, as I speak, INEC cannot defend the result they use in declaring a winner and that presidential election at the election petition tribunal, its own deputy director ICT. As at yesterday and today, could not defend it. They said, look, he said, look, 31% of the result that was used in declaring a winner is blood and unreadable. So the European Union has not said or anything farfetched apart from what is already in the public domain. Nigerians already know that the elections lay down guidelines. Let's look at some of the major issues that were picked on by the European Union. They said that this election actually exposed an enduring systemic weakness and therefore signals the need for further legal operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness and accountability. Let's look at the weaknesses here. Now, because many of us have continuously dwelled on the issue of the upload of the results. Let's look at the processes, the electoral processes and if they were followed through totally. He's talking about an exposure of weaknesses. What weaknesses do you think that the EU is referring to here? Because again, if we're looking at the issue of values, this is something that has continued to erupt before, during and after elections and we've continued to sue for peace. Peace packs have been signed over and over again, but that has not necessarily addressed the issue of violence. Some other weaknesses are, you know, the issue of transmission of results where many have also quarried that results are written and sometimes it's not the results that you get at the polling units that are gotten at the end of the day. There are some weaknesses and they have also talked about some solutions that they think we should look at, but let's start by talking about these weaknesses. Now, you said also that INEC's ICT boss has said that he's not, in real words, not been able to defend some of the results because of the blurry nature of this result. But then INEC is one of those to first hop on this issue and say, well, this is very biased and you need to give us facts, including the president and not giving us any clear cut fat as to why you think the selections were not free for incredible. Thank you very much, Mimi. It's funny. It's funny that, like I said, it sounds really funny for the presidency or INEC themselves to be coming out to defend the indivisible. One of the legal issues around that election is the issue of for any candidate to be declared winner, you must for 25% total votes in the FCT clearly spelt out in the electoral process of this country. That is one of the legal issue that needs to be strengthened up. Some of the legal issues are issues of did he release all these votes that you are saying came in from some of the states because if INEC did not have a close to 31% unreadable and blurry results, how did INEC both arrive at a collision and eventual declaration of a winner? So from what you said, we've said that a character like Kubu is actually the glitch if there was any glitch on the website of INEC it was human glitch particularly for the presidential election it has been proven that look or the other result three elections to place that day the federal House of Representatives the senatorial election the presidential and the presidential yes what happened? Only the presidential election had this glitch all from the confirmation the PDP brought in about 31 or 33 witnesses and some of them worked at ad hoc staff they said look all the two other elections were able to upload it freely but when it came to the gateway for them to upload the result for the presidential there was a glitch and that was experienced all over the country to say that the INEC boss should be cooling his his somewhere the same way this new government was very quick to arrest the CBN boss the former CBN boss now suspended and arrested him the same way they suspended the EFCC boss and arrested him it is the same way Mamoudia Kootu okay Angu we're going to come back to you let's go to Sheryl okay Angu we'll come back to you let's go to Sheryl so quickly to some of the observations of the EU observation team they talked about reforms in six areas they mostly looked at the weaknesses and that's what I was talking to Angu about that this election exposed certain weaknesses in our system but there's something that continuously pokes at me the issue of impunity they talked about election criminality and how we've done with reckless abandon and don't forget these guys are only observers they're supposed to write a report as to what they saw happen in every area that they observed the elections even though the presidency has said that look this is bias and you've not given us any fact as to what makes you conclude that these elections were not free fair and credible but looking at that report Sheryl what exactly do you see and agree with in that report being that you will also pass a fast election in February Sheryl can you hear me Mr Sheryl can you hear me I do not think that we can hear you unfortunately we have lost that connection so Angu let me come back to you again because it looks like we've lost that connection with Sheryl looking at the issue of impunity here every single time we talk about corruption or leadership and bad governance in Nigeria the issue of impunity comes up and many would say that that's because we have not also led a life of justice and people paying for crimes committed against the state and across the people but the impunity here that the EU is talking about they're looking at it as things that were done during this election were reckless abandon why do you think that these kinds of impunity continue to whole sway in our electoral process knowing how far we've come in terms of democracy you see the impunity it's systemic you know people go against the law people do a lot of things that against the law and nothing seems to happen just like the case we are seeing with today clearly this man made a lot of promises help Nigerians build trust again I heard a lot of stakeholder engagement only for him to go back and renege on his very commitment to the law to the Nigerian constitution to the Nigerian people and because he knows that even if he does that those he has favoured as in the case of the president administration we do nothing to him you see that he still goes ahead to do it what last what last or what last have we heard of who do man from our state that infragrant abuse of office abuse of law and everything went ahead and declared somebody a winner when he was not even the returning officer for that election and his matter his matter is actually before it caught I think two days ago it was reported that he will be arraigned and his matter will be addressed in the course of law how about the GSS bus director that was with him the civil defense the commissioner of police that was with him what has happened to them so it is now we are now raising a generation of young people that feel that look I can do and undo so long as I have somebody that is in government or something that can go away with a wrongdoing and it is something that we all need to work against we all need to find a way to see how ethics, morality is brought back into our ectos into our daily lives as a people as Nigerians so there should be consequences for wrongdoing and if there are no consequences for wrongdoing we will be raising a generation that believes in impunity a generation that does not believe in hard work the other day this present generation was saying look with the array of cases against the current president that maybe harsh poppy the very popular internet fraudster can go and do play again in American tomorrow and come and become president in Nigeria because the president the president is the same amebolatinubu that forfeited over $460,000 money that were related to heroine or drug connection drug deals it is the same amebolatinubu that is Nigerian president today so what are we thinking the next generation that you can bring mass money or go into politics I am going to bring you back I am going to bring you back yes I want to bring you back to something that you just said you talked about the issue of getting justice and putting an end to impunity let's look at the people who were saddled with the responsibility of putting an end to this impunity I am talking about the senate generally the national assembly the judiciary which at some point we used to refer to the last hope of the common person but I don't know if that is still the case today giving the benefit of doubt because this case of the election is still in court but most importantly if most of these people that are saddled with the responsibility of making sure that impunity is put to an end or brought down to its barest minimum or nowhere to be found in any administration going forward are beneficiaries are beneficiaries of this same impunity forced to say that we will ever be able to say or kiss goodbye to impunity or acts of electoral violence in forthcoming elections in the future and can you hear me I can hear you we seem to be a Nigerian's case is a very dear case was it not the valedictory section of the Nigerian senate when senator Boushawa house banned to the former court of appeal president stood up to give his valedictory message to say look I encroached on my wife and my wife was able to have some of you here return to the senate that was one of the days of national disgrace for our country and for the hallowed institution called the Nigerian senate and the Nigerian senate the senate president as I then had to stop him that senator you don't have to go that way the wife came out and wrote a very lame press release saying her house man never encroached on her and all of that who are those investigators for allegations so when Nigerians are tired of impunity Nigerians we arise and take back that country haven't said that and not that there are few Nigerians that are men and women of integrity so all hope is not lost they said 99 days for the chief but one day for the owner so speaking of the senate it's a highly respected institution and as a very good student of the bible he said can any good thing come out of Nazareth I believe that no matter the rottenness or the corruption I don't know what was it that was speculating Nazareth that it was believed that nothing good can come out of it but lo and behold the Messiah Jesus Christ came out of Nazareth so even a quite deal that nothing good can come out of the Nigerian senate but I also believe that one day a Messiah may even arise from that senate so a friend said hope is not strategy but we can only hope for the best for our country let me look at some of the resolutions or the observations that these gentlemen and women from the observation team have put out most importantly they talked about removing ambiguity in the law and also asking for publicly accountable selection process of ionic officials making sure that the right people are put in that office also they also talked about the fact that we need to deal with the discrimination against women addressing the discrimination against women very seriously yes and they also talked about the fact that a lot of Nigerians were very very excited to participate in the elections as opposed to what the outcome of the elections were so let's take it big by big in the next five minutes let's address them one after the other electoral reforms, we keep talking about electoral reforms many of us were very glad when former president Harry signed into law you know the electoral acts as amended but what has he really done for us looking at what happened in the elections? It was Obama when Obama was the president of America when he came to Ghana he said Africa needs strong institutions not strong men and seemingly what he said we see it happen every day in Africa that Africa have more strong men than strong institutions and just like he mentioned one of the issues how electoral commissioners elected to the IMEG board how is the chairman elected or appointed that should that pre-regative should not be left in the hands of politicians if we really really want to nurture our democracy that pre-regative should not be left in the hands of politicians entirely I'm not saying that politicians should be taken off it completely but it should not be left in their hands entirely and as it is in Nigeria a winner takes all you know when you are declared winner you know that every other person votes to tell you that our institutions are not yet strong so the processes of electing or appointing electoral commissioners and even the IMEG chairman we should look at our legal framework and tweak it so that the people we have a say on it that brings me down to the point we've been raising the issue of an independent candidature that I've not been able to see of the houses of assemblies in Nigeria refused that from sailing through so that we can have independent candidature so then dependent in INEG INEG should be made to be independent truly the issue of women it is shameful that in the whole Nigerian senate today we have just three women and it is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria that for the first time we have so the Belgian convention I don't know that what happened to it Big question big question Angu I wish that we had more time to continue this conversation unfortunately our time is up but I will bring you back because we need to I think we need to maul over these recommendations of the INEG observation team and then of course have a more robust conversation but I want to say thank you Angu Angu is a member of the People's Democratic Party thank you so much for speaking with us we appreciate it thank you very much Mimi, God bless you all right we have been divided over the accomplishments of the Bola-Mentinova administration as it celebrates its one month in office David Huss will be right back