The European Union on Monday, urged the Federal Government and Independent National Elections Commission (INEC), to ensure that Nigerians are allowed to choose their leaders.
In a statement issued by EU in Abuja, the union also said under-represented groups, including women, young people and people with disabilities, must be encouraged to participate in politics. In the statement which was issued to commemorate democracy day, the Union urged all Nigeria political parties to maintain Nigerian and international norms and support a credible process and shun violence.
The statement reads; “Who will win the general elections in 2019 is a decision for the Nigerian people. Our concern as partners of Nigeria is to see a process that is free, fair and inclusive. We are particularly keen to see greater participation in politics from under-represented groups, including women, young people and people with disabilities.”
“We offer our strong support to the Independent National Elections Commission (INEC) and welcome the technical improvements they have introduced to the electoral process. We encourage the government and legislators to work with INEC to achieve further improvements at least six months before the elections, in line with the established ECOWAS protocol.”
“Democracy is not only about the voting process. It also requires a strong and ongoing commitment from political actors to uphold the democratic ideal. We have noted with concern recent reports of violence, intimidation and corruption, both within parties and between parties. We take advantage of this national celebration of democracy to urge all political parties to maintain Nigerian and international norms and support a credible process. It is the fundamental right of the Nigerian people to freely express their will now and in the forthcoming elections”.
He said, “ The struggle to achieve democracy gives it a special value and places responsibility on all of us to support the democratic process. We congratulate Nigeria on its progress since 1999, including the first peaceful transition of power from a ruling party to an opposition party in 2015. As we celebrate your progress, we encourage and support Nigeria and its people to consolidate and deepen democracy as the country heads towards important elections next year”.
European Union members also celebrated all those who sacrificed so much for democracy, “In Nigeria, as in so many of our countries, the right for all citizens to enjoy equal participation in the democratic process was achieved after considerable struggle and suffering”.
The EU came as Anti-corruption group Transparency International said on Monday that the Buhari government has in the run-up to elections expanded the use of opaque $670 million-a-year funds that fuel graft, according to a Reuters report.
The funds, known as “security votes”, are a relic of military rule, mainly disbursed in hard cash and nominally released for dealing with unexpected security issues. They come from both federal and state governments, although the vast majority is disbursed under the latter.
According to Transparency International’s report on Monday they have become “synonymous with official corruption and abuse of power”. The watchdog’s report comes as President Muhammadu Buhari is gearing up to run for a second term in February 2019.
A Nigerian presidency spokesman did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment about the report.
Buhari has built his administration’s policy on the twin pillars of tackling Nigeria’s endemic corruption and restoring stability to the highly insecure country. Hundreds have died this year in communal unrest in the hinterlands and the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in the northeast.
“The security vote is one of the most durable forms of corruption operating in Nigeria today,” said Katherine Dixon, Transparency International’s director for defence and security, in a statement.
“Yet instead of addressing its many urgent threats, the ever-increasing use of security votes is providing corrupt officials with an easy-to-use and entirely hidden slush fund.”
The group said the spending “is not subject to legislative oversight or independent audit because of its ostensibly sensitive nature”, adding that the funds are channelled into political activities such as election campaigns or embezzled outright.
It said federal-level total spending on items identified as security votes increased by 43 percent in 2018’s budget from 2017 and included payments to a university, a museum commission and a dental technology school.
Reuters checked some of the figures included in Transparency International’s report against a draft version of the 2018 budget, which has not yet been signed into law, and confirmed payments to those recipients were planned and identified as security votes.
Most of the estimated $670 million of security votes is disbursed by state governments, with federal spending making up only $51 million, Transparency International said. State government changes in disbursement varied, according to the report’s data.
Additionally, the largest security votes each year go to security agencies, and such spending under Buhari is less than under his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, the report acknowledged.
“Today, security votes are budgetary black boxes that are ripe for abuse by politicians seeking reelection or officials looking to run for political office,” Transparency International said.
LAIDE AKINBOADE
