By Pascal Oparada
United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has denied reports that it predicted victory for the incumbent Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, in the coming 2019 presidential election.
The report published on its website, titled: Correcting a media error: Makes no prediction on Nigerian election, the Institute said many Nigerian newspapers have gone to town with the news that it predicted victory for President Buhari.
“A few Nigerian newspapers reported erroneously this week that the U.S. Institute of Peace has made a prediction about the possible outcome of Nigeria’s 2019 presidential election. USIP never makes predictions about election outcomes and has not done so in this case. The Institute’s work on elections is confined to helping nations avoid electoral violence,” the Institute said.
It said the news account misrepresented its 20-page report on the “risks to a peaceful 2019 election in Nigeria”, the report said.
According to the Institute, the report is based on its interactions with more than 200 Nigerians cutting across “election administrators, political party representatives, security officials, civil society and youth groups, the media, traditional and religious leaders, prominent community figures, business people, academics and others.”
“some respondents” discussed their own views of Nigerian public perceptions about an election outcome. A Nigerian news account mis-reported this passage as a USIP prediction of the outcome, and other Nigerian news organizations repeated the error.”
Some Nigerian media outlets, including TheCable, had reported that the Institute believes Buhari will win 2019 presidential elections.
It’s less likely for Buhari to be defeated in 2019, says US institute | TheCable https://t.co/DKSujMwsyT #2019Elections pic.twitter.com/QN20GKYb7t
— TheCable (@thecableng) November 4, 2018
TheCable, however adjusted it’s report to reflect the views as that of Nigerians rather than the Institute after the Institute issued the rebuttal.
In its report titled ‘It’s less likely for Buhari to be defeated in 2019’ – Nigerians tell US institute, TheCable had said many Nigerians believe President Buhari will coast home to victory come 2019.
This may have made many, especially those in Buhari’s camp to believe that the report is a prediction of victory for Buhari.
The USIP said that it is strictly nonpartisan and is focused entirely on preventing violence.
