Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-05-23-Speech-3-305"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20070523.21.3-305"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Madam President, we all agree that, unfortunately, these elections were a real disappointment, but I hope that democracy in Nigeria will become a force in the future, and not a farce. We have a lot of work to do. I agree that it is not possible or advisable to continue with business as usual, and certainly we will not do that.
I shall just repeat that the EIDHR provides an opportunity to work with civil society. It can work without the approval of the Government, but we normally have contact with the Government.
Finally, it is also important to see what our financial funding means there. It is a mere 0.2% of the oil revenue and the total international aid to Nigeria. Therefore this makes the consequences of aid suspension negligible from a financial viewpoint and potentially counterproductive, as it would further impair political dialogue with the Government. But, on the whole, 25% of funding is promoting good governance. Therefore, we should use this part in particular in order to work with civil society, as I think we would all agree.
As has been said by, I believe, a majority here, we have to engage with members of civil society in Nigeria who are willing to change the situation and the election process. This must be part of the dialogue that we have to follow up, based especially on the recommendations of the EOM.
On the other hand, political engagement and dialogue with the Government are also needed. Such a dialogue has to be regular; it has to be structured; it has to be held at troika, or local or even higher level, and must be extended to national and regional organisations, as was done between the EU and ECOWAS, as was just mentioned, as well as to representatives of civil society.
As regards the Electoral Commission, according to the observers, there were irregularities and fraud, but INEC in particular failed to act independently as it is required to do. It is clear, therefore, that INEC, tarnished as it is by serious doubts over its impartiality, cannot continue to be a beneficiary of EDF support. Issues concerning INEC’s independence, mandate, structure and leadership must therefore be addressed before any decision about the continuation of our support can be taken.
As regards the Niger Delta, which has already been mentioned by some of you, the Human Rights Watch report entitled ‘Chop Fine’ on Rivers State is emblematic of a situation widespread in the Niger Delta, where large financial resources are made available, but very little reaches the people and even less the communities in remote areas of the Delta. People there have been deprived of their voices and land resources, and they are not given anything in return by the Government.
The threats and challenges presented by this area are left unaddressed and will, sooner or later, have serious repercussions at national and regional level. The ambassadors of the EU Member States have twice submitted clear and simple recommendations. Before the financial resources allocated to the Niger Delta are increased, total transparency should be ensured and dialogue between all the stakeholders established.
Articles 8 and 9 of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement have also been mentioned. They contain all the ingredients needed to ensure the most effective dialogue not only with the Government but also with civil society and the regional African organisations, as has been said. I consider it absolutely paramount that more coherent, more regular and more systematic action by the EU as a group vis-à-vis Nigeria is the only possible way of addressing the questions highlighted by these elections. This should be a very strong thrust of our policy.
On the other hand, we have to be careful not to push Nigeria into the hands of religious extremists, including Muslim extremists.
China has been mentioned. When I was in China in January, I made it clear that we want to have a dialogue on Africa with China. It is not so easy to do, but it is very important and, therefore, it is important that Nigeria is being invited to the G8 Summit in order to give them these messages directly, because we have to tell Nigeria that we want our values and interests to be respected and it cannot only be a question of pure economic matters."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples