Festus Keyamo Reacts To EU’s Comments On The 2023 Election

Festus Keyamo, a former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, has stated that the European Union Observer Mission (EUOM) report on the 2023 general elections cannot delegitimize President Bola Tinubu’s government.

He said this in response to a recent EU investigation that discovered shortcomings in the general election and gave suggestions to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

According to the EU Electoral Observer Mission, trust in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been badly harmed, particularly as a result of the failure to electronically submit the presidential election results. The EU, which identified six areas for future improvement in Nigeria’s electoral process, noted that the presidential election exposed long-standing systemic flaws, signalling the need for additional legal and operational reforms to improve transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability.

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In a response made on his Twitter account, Keyamo remarked that there is no election without irregularities anywhere in the world. He went on to say that many Africans’ minds have been so twisted that they see any report or data from any institution in Europe or America as an irrefutable report or data from God.

Festus Keyamo said, ‘’Declaring certain aspects of an election or electoral process as ‘flawed’ is not synonymous with saying the whole process was a cataclysmic failure. This is the simple difference a whole bunch of people have failed to realise.

“THERE IS NO SINGLE ELECTION IN THE ENTIRE WORLD THAT WOULD NOT RECORD CERTAIN COMPLAINTS OF IRREGULARITIES IN CERTAIN AREAS. The REAL ISSUE to determine is whether those supposed irregularities substantially affected the election to the extent that the loser(s) could have won or the winner could have lost. If you cancel an entire process each time some irregularities happen or are reported, we may conduct an election 100 times and no winner would be announced.

“It is only a forensic examination of the entire process by the judiciary that can clearly determine the extent the supposed ‘irregularities’ affected the final outcome of the elections. And there are legal rules already laid down to achieve this. The EU report is NOT (and cannot be) a document that tells you who won or lost an election. It only reports the ‘irregularities’ noticed and makes recommendations for improvement in future elections.

“Therefore, all the hoopla over that EU report is neither here nor there when it comes to legitimising or delegitimising the government of the day. That power or responsibility belongs to the judiciary.

“I hope those who are now gyrating excitedly as if they are ‘speaking in tongues’ over the EU report will also have the spirit and ‘anointing’ to accept and embrace the actual forensic judgment by our properly constituted law courts when they eventually decide on the 2023 elections.

“Till then, as a very senior member of the Bar, I hold my peace and I say no more.

“Funny thing is, the mentalities of many Africans have been so skewed to see any kind of report or data with the imprimatur of any organisation or body from Europe or America, especially as regards Africa or any African country, as an unquestionable report or data from God!”