The European Union (EU) Election Observer Mission to Nigeria on Friday said the just concluded gubernatorial elections across the country did not resemble the quality of the process and environment of the elections for presidential and National Assembly polls held earlier this month.

The EU group said their conclusion was based on findings of its members who were present in most relevant states to monitor the exercise.

The group observed that not all the challenges observed in the previous elections were met where there were key findings on inconsistent implementation of procedures, including numerous instances of underage voting and increased attempts to influence voters.

Observation by the EU came as the United States (US) government on Friday stated that it remained concerned about allegations of fraud and ballot box snatching in various jurisdictions during the election.

It urged the Federal Government to investigate and take corrective actions on all of the allegations.

In a preliminary report on the elections made available to journalists in Abuja, the leader of the group, Alojz Peterle, maintained that the mission was also aware of reports from candidates, political parties and other stakeholders alleging irregularities in certain places.

He, however, appealed to aggrieved politicians to employ only legal means to address their grievances.

Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, who spoke in Washington DC on the election, stated that he had no doubt that there were some imperfections, some technical problems, and probably some justified cases of rigging in the election.

He noted that he did not believe that any of the irregularities or technical imperfections undermined the overall outcome of the election and that the elections did reflect the will of a majority of the Nigerian people.

He said US government hoped that President Goodluck Jonathan would act in both a responsible and inclusive manner in the formation of his cabinet by ensuring that he reached out to heal the political divisions that were uncovered during the election process.

Mr. Carson stated that the US government was heartened that many Nigerian voters went to the polls to vote in what he described as an environment largely free of violence following the deplorable post-election violence of the previous week.

According to him, the United States was confident that INEC leaders would continue to take steps to further improve the electoral process to ensure that some political actors did not revert to their old ways of subverting the will of the electorate.

Mr. Carson reiterated that the country, as partners in the international community, would not hesitate to take appropriate action against individuals or any political party who sought to undermine the integrity of the electoral process, whether at the state, national, or local elections.

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