Nigerian Vote "Undemocratic" and "Not Credible" - EU

Bloomberg News Report, Monday, April 23, 2007: The European Union observers that monitored Nigeria's elections on Monday said the ballots fell far short of international democratic standards and "cannot beconsidered to be credible." Chief EU observer Max van den Berg told a news conference that both the elections held on April 14 for state government and legislative officials, as well as the presidential and parliamentary vote on April 21 "have fallen far short of basic international requirement standards for democratic elections." "The elections were marred by poor organisation, lack ofessential transparency ... significant evidence of fraud, particularly during the results collation process, voter disenfranchisement ... and a lack of equal conditions forcontestants." "As a result," he said, "the elections have not lived up to the hopes and expectations of the Nigerian people, for the process cannot be considered to be credible."