UK parliament did not say Nigeria’s presidential election was rigged
A QUESTION asked by a British MP about Nigeria’s presidential election is being misconstrued online as a declaration by UK parliament of a rigged vote.
“UK Parliament confirmed Nigeria election was rigged in favour of APC,” said one person sharing a video clip of the question being asked on March 14 in the House of Commons
The video shows British Labour MP Chi Onwurah asking Conservative Foreign minister Andrew Mitchell for his thoughts on a complaint from her constituents about the February 25 election, given the UK’s financial support to Nigeria’s civil society and electoral commission.
A single MP’s question during a parliamentary debate is not the official position of the entire UK Parliament, as was claimed on social media.
Moreover, Onwurah did not at any point say the Nigerian presidential election was rigged, according to a video of her question and parliamentary minutes
Onwurah was not immediately available for comment.
In asking her question, Onwurah said her constituents had “expressed concerns at serious failures of technology, security and communications in last month’s presidential elections, as has the European Union”.
Onwurah then asked: “Given that the government has provided financial support to Nigerian civil society on election integrity, and technical advice to the Nigerian independent national electoral commission, what does the minister think went wrong?”
In response, Mitchell said: “She’s entirely right that we provided £5 million of taxpayer’s money to civil society, to boost citizen education and voter engagement, and the British high commission deployed observers to polling stations across seven states.”
“We commend all those involved for their commitment to democracy and also, importantly in respect of her question, to resolving disputes through the courts and through peaceful means.”
Verdict
Misleading. Chi Onwurah raised her constituents’ concerns about the Nigerian presidential election, but she did not say that it was rigged. A question asked during a parliamentary debate is not considered the official position of the UK’s Parliament.