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An official of the Independent National Electoral
Commission retrieves documents from ballot boxes in Katsina State on on March
29, 2015 ©Pius Utomi Ekpei (AFP)
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The African Union on Monday praised the conduct of
Nigeria's general election but urged political parties to go to court to
resolve any disputes, given fears of violence.
The African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM)
said in preliminary findings that the vote was "conducted in a peaceful
atmosphere within the framework that satisfactorily meets the continental and
regional principles of democratic elections".
GRAPHITTI NEWS reports:
Teams of international observers, including from the
European Union and the Commonwealth, as well as the United Nations, have been
on the ground to monitor the vote, held on Saturday and Sunday.
Political campaigning has been closely run between
President Goodluck Jonathan and former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari in what
is the first serious opposition challenge in the country's history.
There have, however, been problems with new technology
to "read" biometric voter identity cards, the non-arrival of election
officials and materials plus protests about irregularities.
Some 1,000 people were killed after Jonathan beat
Buhari to the presidency last time round in 2011.
The AU said the election was "generally peaceful
during the accreditation as well as voting and counting processes" but
said any challenges of the results should not be fought on the streets.
"The AUEOM encourages all parties to resort to
legally established channels, should there be a dispute on the outcome of the
process," it said in a statement.
"The AU long-term observers will continue to
observe the post-electoral process."
On
its own part the ECOWAS Observer Mission (EOM) has said that Saturday’s
presidential and parliamentary elections conformed to acceptable standard and
meet the criteria of being free and transparent. John Kuffour, the mission’s head and
former president of Ghana, said the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC), political parties, security agencies and various entities that
contributed to the exercise in one way or the other deserve commendation.
He said the turnout of
voters was impressive, lauding women and young people for participating in the
exercise and displaying commendable level of patience and discipline.
“Security agents were
present at most of the polling stations and on patrols in and around the cities
as peaceful atmosphere prevailed in most parts of the country,” he said.
Kuffour also noted that
INEC officials demonstrated good knowledge and compliance with voting
procedures.
He also noted that agents
of the major political parties, including the All Progressives Congress (APC),
Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were in attendance in
most polling units.
“The process of counting
at the polling stations and the subsequent collations at designated centres
were successful and in accordance with the electoral act,” he said.
“Some of the challenges
the mission observed during the exercise included the late arrival of INEC
officials in many polling stations and malfunctioning of card readers across
the country.”
However, the mission
observed that there were insufficient or non-availability of electoral
materials in some polling units, leading to delay in accreditation and voting
processes.
“Cases of attempt to
snatch ballot papers were reported in some polling stations leading to
instances of uproar, shootings and sporadic violence in the affected polling
stations,” he said.
“Despite efforts by the
relevant agencies to secure the electoral exercise, explosions were also
recorded in some parts of the country.”
EOM is part of sustained
efforts of ECOWAS to support the consolidation of democracy and good
governance in Nigeria.
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