The European Union says Nigeria could decide whether to use or ignore its recent report on the 2023 general elections.

Samuela Isopi, Head of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) disclosed this in a statement on Monday. 

“It is the responsibility of host country; it is the responsibility of the partner country; it is the responsibility of the electoral management body to decide if they want to make use or not of that report,” Ms Isopi said.

In its final report, the European Union adjudged the 2023 general elections as unfree and unfair, estimating the number of killings during the exercise to be about 74. 

Dele Alake, a spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu and other loyalists of the ruling All Progressives Congres (APC), had dismissed the report as a criticism targeted at only the party.

However, Ms Isopi said, “Our experience with Nigeria so far has been positive, and I mean, and I can say that the report of the international observation missions, including the European Union, has helped a lot and has helped guide the action and the reform processes, and I have no doubt that this will be the case also this time.”

Meanwhile, the report had fingered spokespersons for APC Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo and Femi Fani-Kayode, among fake news peddlers during the elections.