Former Presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has reacted to the European Union (EU) report on the 2023 election, describing the response of President Bola Tinubu as ‘knee-jerk’ which made him look small.
Recall that the EU in its final report on the 2023 general polls said that the exercise exposed the enduring systemic weaknesses, and therefore signaled a need for further legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability.
Reacting to the Union’s submission, Reno Omokri, in a post via his social media page on Monday, averred that Tinubu missed a big opportunity to accept the flaws in the last election.
According to him, Tinubu should have acted like the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua by accepting that the election that brought him to power was not perfect as well as assuring Nigerians that future elections will be improved.
He added that the EU report was not so damning neither did they cast doubt on Tinubu’s victory, but merely pointed out lapses on the part of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He wrote: “The EU Election Observer Mission’s report was not so damning. President Bola Tinubu missed a big opportunity. He should have done what President Yar’adua did and accepted that the elections which brought him to power were not perfect (even in America, elections are not perfect) and promised to improve future elections by giving the INEC more independence.
“If he had done that, he would have been the bigger man. But this knee-jerk reaction made him look small. And what did the EU-EOM say that was so bad? They did not cast doubt on his victory. They merely pointed out lapses on the part of INEC, especially their recruitment process and the integrity of their technology. The INEC itself has not even devised what the EU-EOM said, most likely because it is true.
“I think the President did not handle this as best he could. A simple, ‘I hear you, and though I do not completely agree, I will nonetheless take your observations into account’, would have been a diplomatic response that would have satisfied everybody.”
