Ahead of Nigeria’s 2023 general elections, a forum of concerned Nigerians put together by the Toyin Falola Interview Series has charged Nigeria’s Federal Government and other relevant government agencies to take the prosecution of electoral offenders more seriously, just as it warned that except this is done, voter apathy and a more underrepresented populace in the larger governance space would persist.
These remarks were given in response to issues raised by the organizer of the platform, erudite academic, Professor Toyin Falola, in respect of the forthcoming 2023 general elections in Nigeria. The panelists included rights activist, author and journalist, Dr. Chido Onumah; Associate Editor, Pan-African University Press, Miriam Oke; founding Director of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC), Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi; and senior lecturer in the Department of History and War Studies, Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, Dr. Hussaini Jibrin. The Toyin Falola Interview series, as usual, was beamed and viewed on various social media platforms by millions of participants.
Disturbed by Nigeria’s notoriety for electoral violence, Professor Falola had asked his panel and audience if there was any need to worry and if the coming elections would be different. Asking, he said: “Should we expect violence in the elections? People have made the argument that the process itself consumes a lot of attention and money in terms of recruitment of party thugs. When election is over, you disband the party thugs. What do they do, they look for alternative sources of income: kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery. Sometimes we don’t link the competition for power and what politicians do to some of the crises that follow with the elections.”
Reacting to the question, Dr. Akiyode-Afolabi noted that while the electoral act takes cognizance of electoral violence, adequate steps have not been taken to punish electoral violence offenders. For her, “I think it is also the impunity that goes with electoral violence in the country. We have seen severally where we also know those who are behind the electoral violence. But you never see much of that been castigated by government. You don’t find the justice system taking that into consideration. If that then becomes something that we see year after year, then it becomes the norm. People see electoral violence as part of the norm in the electoral process. People envisage that it would happen. This is why we see young people, women run away from political spaces. This is because there is an assumption that there would always be electoral violence.
“I know that there have been a lot of agitations for us to have the electoral offences commission. It is not that the electoral act does not envisage electoral violence but while the act makes electoral violence an offence, unfortunately we have not taken steps to punish as much people as possible for electoral violence. It might also be because of the complicity of the political class itself. We can trace the insurgencies to what had happened during political times. In Rivers State, we know how the gunrunning started, and in many other places across the country. We also know that the political class use violence as a way of forcing electoral successes on the people. We need to broaden our conversations on electoral offences. I observed elections in Liberia. Once they found any infraction on the electoral act on election date, there is a magistrate that sits to take the offender immediately and justice will be done, right there. Until when we are serious about how well to respond to it, we might be able to address the problem of electoral violence.”
On his part, Dr. Onumah viewed electoral violence as integral to Nigeria’s electoral process, citing money, electoral violence and vote-buying/rigging as other core components. According to him, “It is an integral part of the electoral process which I would divide into three. There is the money aspect; there is the aspect of violence, and there is the vote-buying, rigging and so on. These three aspects make up what you would describe as the structure and nature of elections in Nigeria. People need money to be able to recruit people who would commit the violent acts on their behalf. They need money to be able to bribe security law enforcement agents.
“Beyond the law and other issues, I think the question goes back to the point where we started which is what is in it for politicians? People would spend money; they would be violent and rig elections because at the end of the day, it pays. We should begin to look more closely at toning down the benefits of elections at the end of the day. People would do what they have to do as long as it is lucrative to be in power in Nigeria. Politics is not about service to your constituents; it is not about service to the nation. As people note that they would do anything to get to power. We must look at the prospect of diminishing the role of those who win electoral positions or coming to what they do or what they get. If we are able to do that in addition to getting the law and order, I think we will be able to eliminate some of these concerns.”
Extending the narrative of violence, Professor Falola touched on the insecurity across many parts of the country tow which Dr. Jibrin argued that the quantum of violence in the North, particularly insurgency and banditry would dwarf the prevalence of electoral violence during the 2023 elections. He submitted that he was optimistic that elections would hold. “Security is very important in the conduct of every election. Looking at the insecurity situation in the country as you rightly pointed out from all geopolitical zones, I am optimistic that the elections in 2023will be held and will be part of the block for the democratic consolidation in Nigeria and in Africa at large.
“Nigeria is a complex country. You cannot generalize certain things that are happening. The variables are different. In the North-West, there is armed banditry; in the North-East, there is Boko Haram. In the North-West, there had been series of post-election violence especially in the major cities like Sokoto, Kano and Kaduna. But these states are experiencing the challenges of armed banditry. I am seeing these challenges of armed banditry will overshadow the election crisis,” he said.
Taking a different perspective, Dr. Onumah expressed fears about the state of insecurity in the country ahead of the elections. According to him, “When you talk about election and its success, you also have to look at the process. Look at the South-East, people are being abducted, including election officers for registering. That is an inhibition in the first place. It means not many people have the opportunities of registering and collecting PVCs. That would affect the outcome in terms of numbers. People are also been threatened not to campaign in certain places. No matter the interest in the candidates, people will worry first about their safety. Even on election day, people will instigate violence and ensure that they scare people. If you have the state deploying soldiers and police, people will be scared. If you have the politicians unleashing their thugs, people will also be scared. All these would be of concern to the voters. It is a big issue.”