By Sunday Ani
Former Akwa-Ibom State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Igini has identified rigging, disregard for rule of law, use of thugs by politicians, abusive political messages during campaign rallies, failure to deliver ballot papers and result sheets to polling units and non prosecution of perpetrators of election violence among others as some of the factors fuelling election violence in Nigeria.
He made the revelation in a lecture he presented at the Inspector General of Police three-day retreat on ‘Understanding the Trends and Drivers of Election Violence in Nigeria,’ which was recently held in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
He listed other factors that trigger electoral violence in Nigeria to include high level of poverty and low standard of living fuelling vote buying; low level of literacy leading to poor political awareness; high rate of youth unemployment; environment of decreasing moral values; increasing rate of militancy and violent groups as well as elite dissension.
Igini condemned rigging and manipulation of election outcomes and other drivers of election violence, and called on the government to arrest the ugly trend. He stressed that the cumulative consequences of failure to curtail drivers of election violence include voter apathy and even loss of lives and property.
“As a result of our collective inability to stem the tide of violence during election resulting in several deaths and loss of properties, many citizens have been disappointed and have disengaged from the political process with the resultant problem of voters’ apathy that has bedeviled outcomes of election over the years. It may interest you all to know that despite efforts since 2011 through reforms of the electoral system with innovations to rekindle the confidence of the Nigerian electorates, voters turn-out is still very low
“The Nigerian nation since 1964-65 elections up to the 2007 election that turned out to be the worst election has recorded unbelievable numbers of deaths and properties worth billions lost due to election violence. The 2007 election broke the pre-independence and the 1964/65 election human carnage and destruction of properties recorded in our electoral history. Either on account of any of the drivers of election violence identified in the course of this lecture particularly rigging, manipulation and declaration of false election results, Spontaneous violence always greeted such announcement of results in several states of the federation with killings and more assassinations in several places,” he stated.
He, however, commended the INEC for the innovations in the 2022 Electoral Act, which he said have taken care of the identified drivers of election violence. He also commended the National Assembly for passing the bill and the President for assenting to the bill to become law
“The extant Electoral Act has fortified INEC’s innovations and procedures designed to deal with those identified drivers of election violence such as snatching of ballot papers /boxes and writing of election results among others. Those factors that have sustained election violence in the past have all been taken into account in the current Act,” he added.
He called on the police to ensure that the law is implemented fully. “All that is required of key stakeholders like the Nigeria police is the implementation of the laws, fully, fairly and impartially throughout the three phases of the preparation for the 2023 election. As we all know, good laws and innovations are not self-executory. This is where security planning for the 2023 general elections by the Nigerian police, leveraging INEC’s innovations secured by the law to achieve peaceful and violence free elections in Nigeria comes in,” he added.
Igini equally called for a need to strengthen the joint election security body made up of various arms of federal security agencies, even as he recommended that adequate logistics for transportation of security personnel should be provided to ensure smooth conduct of the 2023 elections.
He charged the police to be alive to their duties saying, “Election period is the moment when the commitments of the personnel of the state to its ideals are tested. Security agencies must not fail the Nigerian people and the nation. Whatever role we play, whether good or bad, for the success or failure of the 2023 election shall be recorded by history, so shall we all individually or collectively be remembered by history.”
He called on hands to be on deck to ensure a free, fair and credible 2023 elections. “Ladies and Gentlemen, the future of our country is in our hands to determine. We must all work together and succeed together to have a peaceful, free, fair and credible election in 2023. That is the challenge and the overwhelming responsibility that we all must meet in order to give meaning and purpose to the ballot as the best means of expression of the will of the people in a democracy,” he submitted.