Umar Sani, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has stated that the massive reactions that trailed the Europen Union (EU) Observers report about the 2023 general elections was because it reflected the realities on the ground.
Sani, one of the spokespersons for the PDP during the 2023 polls, noted that the aggressive response of the Bola Tinubu-led administration towards the report indicates that the observers touched a nerve with their accuracy.
According to him, the Tinubu-led government had pressured the EU observers to water down the report to no avail.
He said they began criticizing the report and disputing the observers’ claims after their efforts failed.
His words:
“It is not surprising that the Presidency has come out smoking like smoking Joe Frazier with a deluge of criticisms of the report of the EU EOM, which doesn’t favour Tinubu.
“The report, which was an uppercut and cross counter delivered by the EU EOM, reminiscent of the famous Thriller in Manila and Rumble in the Jungle, two heavy-weight bouts fought by the legendary Muhammad Ali where he flew like a butterfly and stung like a bee is instructive.
“After a painstaking lobby of the EOM to water down the contents of its final report on the outcome of the 2023 general elections and amend critical areas of the report failed to materialize, the Presidency’s next approach was to condemn the report in its entirety as being frivolous, jaundiced, misleading, malicious and biased.”
He said the EU report captures the pulse of Nigeria and is a true reflection of the nation’s mood.
He also accused the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) under Yakubu Maikyau of being heavily compromised.
“They have almost always played lip service to critical national issues.
“Their numbers notwithstanding, they are yet to earn the admiration, respect and confidence of the Nigerian people, he said about the association,” he stated.
He added:
“The reason the EU EOM report excites the citizenry and is enjoying public confidence and applause is because it reflects the true and exact happenings of the events surrounding the botched 2023 elections and its outcome.
“To ascribe the toga of free, fair and transparency to an election marred by irregularities and manipulation and violence, which recorded a casualty figure of 74 persons, is, to say the least, a heresy.”
