A video of the European Union Election Observer Mission ’chief election observer is being shared on WhatsApp by people, attributing claims to him that the results of the 2021 presidential election which gave Adama Barrow a lead has been rejected by a court. It did not specify which courts have heard the case.

The video of Chief Observer Norbert Neuser was edited to a portion where he said: “The IEC has been held in high esteem by stakeholders since the 2016 presidential election. This public standing was, however, diminished AFTER COURT FINDINGS THAT THE IEC HAD ACTED UNLAWFULLY. The duties of the IEC are very broad, but the capacity of the institution is modest. There have also been concerns raised by various interlocutors about a lack of transparency on aspects their work, with minimal information put into the public domain.”

This statement was released by Neuser earlier today.

Even though the EU has raised concerns over a number of issues, Neuser concluded: “Election day was calm and voter turnout high, with long queues throughout the day. The overall performance of polling staff was assessed as good, although limited difficulties were observed some of which undermined the secrecy of the vote. Counting procedures were not always followed and results forms were not always publicly posted or provided to candidate agents. The collation was accessible, and results were announced progressively by constituency, which promoted transparency, although disaggregated polling station results were not published.”