EU’s castigation of presidential poll is neo- colonialism, says group

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EU’s castigation of presidential poll is neo- colonialism, says group

A socio-political organisation, Social Rehabilitation Gruppe has condemned the poor rating of the February 25 2023 presidential election by the European Union’s Observer Mission, describing it as an attempt at imperialism and neocolonialism.

In a statement on Saturday by the National Coordinator/Convener of the group, Dr Marindoti Oludare, the SRG stated that there was overwhelming evidence that the poll was the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s political history.

“The presidential election that produced President Bola Tinubu was the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s political history, with the most diverse outcome.

“An election where four out of 18 presidential candidates won at least one state, the top three candidates won an equal number of states plus FCT.”

The statement further described the past Februrary 25 election as, “An election where the winner of the presidential election won by a mere 36.61% of the vote, and where seven sitting governors failed to win the senate bid.”

It stated that from the outcome of the election results, “five political parties won governorship elections, seven parties won senatorial seats, eight parties are represented in the House of Representative and nine political parties are assembled in state houses of assembly across the nation.”

“Such elections can not be justifiably said to be massively rigged or marred by violence,” the group argued.

Oludare, who is a Nigeria-born and US-based medical doctor, averred that “despite this great stride towards a more equitable and just democracy, it is of great concern that the European Union Election Observer Mission decided to call a press conference in an attempt to discredit the sacred Nigerian electioneering process.”

It, however, condemned what he described as the EU’s grandstanding attempt at ‘whitesplaining’ to us how we should conduct our elections, tagging such as quite condescending and repugnant.

“It will make anyone who had experienced racism sick to his stomach. The effort reeks of stale colonialism, an attempt at imperialism by inept observers attempting to enthrall us with their God’s complex. I’ll call it an EU EOM’s Narcissistic Personality Disorder.”

He added, “Members of the opposition could be seen in an “Uncle Tom’s strut,” holding on gleefully to that report as a validation of the travesty of a petition they have filed in the electoral tribunal. I guess their jaundice has gotten beyond the sclera to reach their retina.

“While Peter Obi never had a viable part to victory due to his ethno/religiocentric campaign, had Atiku won a mere 30% of Obi’s vote, he would be President of the Federal republic today. Had he fought for and won a mere 25% of Peter Obi & Rabiu Kwankwanso’s vote total, he would be president today.”

“The opposition became obsessed with their main opponent in the election, so much so that they failed to recognise their main proponent of their doom. The balkanization of the PDP led to the victory of Asiwaju in the face of all the tactics deployed to assail derail his prevail.”

“It is impossible to conduct a process in an environment while removing that process from the realities of its domicile environment,” he mentioned.

Oludare said the report from the election observers was a mockery to Nigeria’s environmental, infrastructural, educational and security challenges.

The convener described it as “an attempt to subjugate and make us feel inferior while sewing discontent within the nation.”

Oludare likened the EU EOM report to a scenario in which an “European mother call an African mother bad for letting her child have malaria.”

He said, “The fact that malaria is endemic in Africa does not make the European mother any better neither does it make the African mother incompetent at protecting and caring her ward.”