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Tag: election violence

  • Between election violence and the spoils of office

    In rivers and bad governments the lightest things swim at the top.-Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American scientist and philosopher.

    Nigeria’s elections are always a period of haemorrhage, seasons of internecine bloodletting, that, strangely, does not bring down our population. Just do a study of our cyclical polls. None came and went away without taking away precious souls. They have all soaked us in blood either before, during, or after the ballot. Even the June 12, 1993 presidential contest we celebrate didn’t consummate its benignity. It wasn’t allowed to. The vampires showed up to ruin the chance to dance. They annulled what Providence offers only once in a lifetime. What we got on the proverbial silver platter, we have since been looking for in a golden platter. It’s been quite an agonizing quest, made unbearable by the high toll in the lives we lose when we blow the whistle for electioneering.

    Unfortunately, and tragically so, what we get at the end of each exercise, mostly incompetent and self-serving politicians and office holders, does not justify the enormous resources we load into the project. You go into an enterprise to return with profit and fulfilment. But Nigerians have been repeatedly outwitted, short-changed. We heed the call of the authorities and the political lords to sacrifice our precious time, to set aside the work that earns us the little to live on and to brave the inclement elements of nature and those posed by hoodlums and uniformed men and all we harvest are death of dear ones and a parasitic club of men and women. We never get what we are promised, either by those who run a term or two. It isn’t remunerative business, receiving dross, loss and curse after you have pumped much into the deal in fervid hope of mouth-watering returns. Why must we experience such grief at the threshold of potential joy?

    The 2019 election is gone, or substantially gone; but it is a spectre that has thrown itself into our future. That is to say that poll violence and the (s)election will go on leave now, to resurface when we are set for the ballot in four years.

    But the good news is that these recurring demons, abiku and ogbanje spirits, are not invincible. We can exorcise them if we degrade public office and politics as a haven of prosperity. The weapon to deploy in our fight against murderous politics and thieving political office holders is to abolish wages for them altogether. The spirit of do-or-die in political contests arises from the backward mentality that political office is worth dying for because it is the god that drives society’s resources. So, why won’t you worship it and fall at its feet for survival? Why won’t you seek to invest your blood in it? Why won’t you thrash the spiritual injunction and then begin to seek first the political kingdom so that all other things shall be added to you?

    The way out, as I proposed some time ago, is to dis-incentivise politics and its so-called spoils by making public office disagreeable to those whose goal is to make a fortune and not to serve. Some concerned citizens whose position matches this view suggest we drastically reduce the pay and allowances of our politicians. But I want us to go beyond this pay-cut option, because in my opinion it only addresses the issue halfway, not dealing it a deathblow. Secondly, it opens the way for abuse and underhand bargain with the civil servants for doctoring of figures in respect of the office holders’ wages. Thirdly, there will be hardly resistible clamour for salary increase to reflect ‘economic realities’ as we often put it.

    To eliminate these foreseeable challenges, we should aim for a system that ‘de-wages’ all political office holders, from the presidency and aides and federal cabinet down to the governors and their ruling paraphernalia with the local council administration. They all should be sustained by the state. Our tax would maintain them and their families. Their school-age children will attend public schools. They and their families will be barred from seeking medicare abroad or in private facilities here in Nigeria. The state will be responsible for all the basic needs of their families during and after their tenure.

    They would not have to be anxious about their future or that of their dependents after such a selfless service to the people. It is such fear of the future, the uncertainty of the years that would follow your alienation from office, that creates the cradle of corrupt enrichment in politics and the civil service.  But in the system we are proposing, the state would look after the public officer who has sacrificed for the people. The state will be there for them.

    Naturally, there won’t be luxury and free money in that regime of selflessness of work for the people. It is the fantasy about the state’s bottomless wealth being the property of the political office holder that is responsible for the violence that accompanies our elections and politics.

    We call it the spoils of office. But they are the catalysts that call forth the bantamweight of our society to aim for leadership. These sybaritic adventurers don’t give us our best. They throw up the barbarian for the noble work of the land, bringing out the truth of Benjamin Franklin’s remark: the lightest personalities are always in charge. Their heedless hunt for spoils of war and office delivers nothing but violence and stunted growth. Let’s save the nation by denying them a foothold in the future.

  • Our Girls; Election violence cannot be for service

    Our Chibok girls were kidnapped on April 15, 2014. Leah Sharibu and others are not released.

    Nationwide the election has taken place. Perhaps by today we know the presidential winner. Our country is crippled by massive looting since pre-1999, by Corruption, Incompetence, Neglect and Selfishness, (CINS) and backward. To whoever wins, Nigeria is nowhere near where it should have been. Every state and LGA has had enough funds to make it a spectacular success economically. The federal government has always had enough funds to transform Nigeria to a 21st century country. At each level there is massive failure to deliver the needs of the citizenry. The people are left empty and the common denominator in the failure is politicians -greed and corruption.

    Mr. President 2019-2023, get something straight: Nigeria’s money belongs to Nigerians, not you or your party or politicians in states and LGAs. Nigeria is running out of time to develop. We need every naira coming in to be used for development, not 30-70-100% kickbacks for party theft or politicians’ billions. Nigeria cannot afford to miss developing beyond ethnic politics in 2019-2023. The financial stranglehold of politicians must be removed.

    Once again, the evil among us injure, maim, disenfranchise and shed blood of the innocent, killing ad hoc INEC staff, a first-time voter, and rival politicians. Explosions by Boko Haram in Maiduguri, murder of party members and voters and ballot box snatching darken the corridor to democracy. Ballot box snatching is a crime and can be tried under a charge of ‘diverting the course of democracy’ a civilian or even a civilian militia coup plot against democracy.

    A youth corps member was abducted but released and one was injured by thugs. Abduction is a very violent attack on mind and body even if no scratch is found. No abducted victim is ‘unharmed’. There are always mental consequences and damage from forced deprivation, incarceration and fear.  Such actions should be prosecutable and not pretend that ‘Election violence is not as bad as criminal violence’. Election violence like domestic violence is criminal and prosecutable violence against the citizens and state -coup plotting. Election violence makes our society a primitive society where brawn triumphs repeatedly over brain. But the perpetrators do not care for reputation or the republic. They only seek power in order to rob and rape the citizens and country of their funds and a predictable progressive future- a political right denied them by thieving politicians downgrading their conscience to accommodate the stealing of billions.

    Who will comfort or compensate the NYSC victims? They are deserving of automatic post-NYSC federal employment, a hefty compensation package and national and NYSC honours. Who will compensate and comfort the families of the dead? Nobody. We have lost another opportunity to join ‘The Committee of Violence-Free Elections Nations’. Most painful is that too many politicians actually gain victory after deaths from unleashing warfare like this violence. They will be bold enough to step forward as the ‘democratic winner’ of a criminal coup-deviated democratic process and demand to be called excellency, honourable etc. They should be in prison or hung for the crimes of coup plotting and murder.

    How can a murderer give us what we need- a corruption free country, electricity, water, well-equipped schools and hospitals, good roads and new roads and bridges, rail and opening other ports and security? Nobody who employs a thug or plots to steal a single ballot box can suddenly become our saviour. We trivialise the crime of ‘violence during the political process’ by shortening it to ‘political violence’. We made that mistake with domestic violence which should be ‘violence’. The home or politics are merely the situation of the crime, not an excuse for the crime. The injured and dead in the political situation are just as injured and dead as if armed robbers had attacked them. The ‘Cloak of Politics’ in no way lightens the pain of injury, the certainty of death or burden of guilt and the need for punishment. Anyone involved in suffering or maiming or murdering is a civilian coup plotter and should hold no public or political office -a moral position.

    But we are not alone in mob violence and even murder. Until recently the Southern USA relished lynching thousands of African Americans for imaginary and trivial ‘crimes’ like being in the wrong place – America-, looking at a white female or being disrespectful. These murderers were actively protected by police. There was no punishment as the blacks were classified as animals. It was so natural that the three or four or 50 white murderers, fathers and sons, wives and daughters, would gather round their victims hanging from or tied to a tree or spread out and barbecued on a fire, and have a photographer come from town, there was no selfie then, and take a picture for the newspaper and the family album. And they hung a few whites as well. Murder by mob lynching and burning was trivialised for them.

    This is no excuse for us. The heart of man is evil. That was racism at its worst. What is violence against your own Nigerian citizens to force your political will on them? Simply murder!  Are you a murderer-politician! Election violence can never be for service.

     

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  • Atiku condemns election violence

    People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has condemned the bloody violence that claimed the lives of innocent Nigerians during Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.

    He restated that no one deserves to die over a process to elect their leaders.

    Atiku reiterated his earlier position that no politician’s ambition is worth the blood of any innocent Nigerian.

    According to him, no politician should celebrate his political gains, if they are written in the blood of innocent Nigerians, and that no Nigerian, including innocent youth corps members, deserve to die for the sake of any man’s political ambition.

    He said those innocent Nigerians that died won’t be forgotten for their sacrifices, adding that political violence, which is being aided and abetted by desperate politicians, is giving the country’s democracy a bad name.

    In a statement yesterday by his Media Adviser, Mr. Paul Ibe, the PDP flagbearer said: “Those politicians, who climb the ladder of human lives to attain power, have brought our democracy into disrepute, and that it was high time the Nigerian youth opened their eyes to resist being used to kill and maim.

    “Any politician who is sincerely interested in the progress of the youth shouldn’t be using them as cannon fodder for his/her ambition. The youth deserve jobs and not death.

    “The real enemies worth fighting are poverty, unemployment, hunger, nepotism, division, despair and uncertain future.”

    He expressed sadness over the death of some Nigerians during the elections and expressed his condolences to the families and friends of those innocent Nigerians that tragically lost their lives.

     

  • ‘Don’t be used for election violence’

    The Lagos Central senatorial candidate of the PDP, Chief Sunbo Onitiri,  has implored our youths to be peaceful during the coming  presidential election.

    They should not allow themselves to be used  as thugs for violence, he warned.

    In a statement in Lagos yesterday, Chief Onitiri said what the youths should ask from politicians is empowerment.

    He said: “The youths should vote with their conscience and vote wisely. The future and destiny of this country are in their hands. I urge them to shape the future of this country well. They should vote for the president that has the competence, capability and vision to rule us well and fight our poverty.”

    Onitiri said our security agencies should not take side with any candidate in the interest of our nation.

    “They should keep to their oath of allegiance and be loyal to our country, Nigeria, only. They should not intimidate or harass voters during the elections.  Nigeria belongs to us all. We have no other country we can call our own, “ he said.

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    He implored all Nigerians to use this opportunity to vote for a better change.

    “Let us all take our destiny in our hands.  Don’t sell the future and destiny of our nation. Vote wisely.  Vote rightly and vote your conscience, “ he said.

    Onitiri pointed out that the major problem of this country is leadership.

    “Let us carefully elect credible, competent and capable leaders that will take us to the promised land flowing with milk and honey,” he said.

  • JCI organises walk against election violence

    The Junior Chamber International (JCI) Festac Chapter, in collaboration with the Rotaract Club, Amuwo Main, yesterday organised an election advocacy walk.

    The two-hour walk was taken to Agboju, a major market in Festac community. Enthusiastic participants during the walk were seen carrying placards on which different messages were boldly inscribed. Some of the captions read, “ELECTION NO BE WAR”, “YOUR VOTE COUNTS”, “INEC DOES NOT COUNT PRAYER POINTS BUT VOTES”, “VOTE FOR YOUR FUTTURE, DO NOT SELL YOUR VOTE”, and many other instructive messages.

    No less than 40 people participated in the walk and they were accompanied by men of the Nigeria Police Force in Festac to ensure a peaceful and violent free walk.

    The president of JCI Festac Chapter, Ijeoma Ukpabi, in a chat with The Nation, revealed that as part of the organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) they organised the walk to nudge people in the Festac community to come out and exercise their right to vote, because, according to her, “we discovered that a lot of Nigerians have lost faith in our electoral system and many of them believe that their votes don’t count. We are here to assure them in our little way that their votes do count and they have the power as the electorate to vote whoever they please into power.”

    Noting that the campaign isn’t in favour of any party or candidate, Ukpabi said, “We are not here because of any party or candidate for that matter, because some people have been asking us who paid us to do this. Nobody paid us; as you can see, we are dressed in our JCI themed shirts and plain white shirts. This is a walk to encourage people to vote and deter them from being used by politicians for their selfish gains.”

    The immediate past president of JCI Festac, Esther Bamisebi, manned the public address system during the walk. As other participants displayed their placards and some shared fliers, Bamisebi tirelessly bellowed into the microphone, “Don’t sell your vote. Don’t sell your future. Your vote counts. Your vote is your voice. Shun election violence. Say no to rigging…”

    The project coordinator, Fabian Odiah, on the other hand, urged members of the JCI and Rotaract Club to continue advocating for a free and fair election because, according to him, “our future and the future of generations to come largely depend on our votes.”

  • NUJ rallies against election violence

    Journalists in Ekiti State have warned residents against electoral violence.

    The journalists who marched on the streets of Ado Ekiti, the state capital, yesterday, called for peaceful polls.

    The media practitioners urged residents to be orderly and not to plunge the state into chaos before, during and after the poll.

    The march which was tagged: “Public Awareness/Rally on Peaceful Election in Ekiti State,” started at the NUJ Secretariat, Oke Bareke and took the journalists through Isato, Irona, Ijigbo, Old Garage, Okeyinmi, Okesa, Ojumose, Atikankan areas of the city.

    Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and students and officials of the Ado-Ekiti Campus of the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ) also participated in the rally.

    Participants at the rally carried placards and distributed leaflets denouncing violence, arson, electoral malpractices and other behaviour that could cause breakdown of law and order.

    The rally was given protection by officers and men of the Ekiti State Police Command while operatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) assisted to prevent traffic gridlock.

    Some of the placard reads: “We want peace in Ekiti,” “Vote, not fight, election no be war,” “remember your life is very precious,” “shun electoral violence,” “your vote is your power, vote right,” “don’t allow yourselves to be used as thugs,” among others.

    During the march, they reached out to residents in their homes, market women, commercial drivers, commercial motorcycle riders, commuters, Hausa and Igbo traders.

    Traders at Irona and Bisi Markets commended the journalists for the enlightenment campaign which they said was apt and timely as election day approaches. Speaking at the rally, Ekiti NUJ Chairman, Rotimi Ojomoyela, urged the people of the state not to allow the forthcoming poll to be marred by violence.

    Ojomoyela said the rally was the contribution of the NUJ to a peaceful electoral process urging politicians, voters and other stakeholders to maintain peace for the poll to be successful.

    He explained that the NUJ is a non-partisan body but is concerned about loss of lives which always trail the conduct of elections in Nigeria.

    Ojomoyela said: “This rally was organised to send a message that election violence does not pay and we want to appeal to our people to say no to violence.

    “Election is a civic duty and should be done peacefully; we urge eligible voters to go to their polling stations on election day and vote peacefully for the candidates of their choice.

    “We urge politicians not to use our children and youths as thugs and we also warn our younger generation not to allow themselves to be used to cause mayhem at election.

    “Ekiti is a peaceful state, the NUJ is for peace and we will continue to advocate for peace. All stakeholders in the electoral process must give peace a chance.”

    The NUJ Vice Chairman, Aderonke Samo, urged Ekiti youths not to allow politicians to destroy their future by using them to unleash terror during election.

    She said: “Our youths must realize that they have their own lives to live and they should not be tools for violence. Who tells you that you too cannot become president, governor or senator in the nearest future.

    “We don’t want anybody’s blood to be used as sacrifice for election, our youths be warned! We are also calling on our parents to caution their wards, so that they will not be used to burn houses, vehicles and vandalise properties.”

  • Dickson seeks probe of election violence

    Dickson seeks probe of election violence

    GOVERNOR Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to probe the violence that marred the recent state and National Assembly rerun elections in Rivers State.
    In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the governor asked President Muhammadu Buhari to unmask the faces behind the electoral violence and punish the culprits to protect the nation’s democracy.
    He praised his counterpart in Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, saying the governor was resilient and brave throughout the period of the exercise.
    Dickson said the Rivers State governor and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) resisted attempts by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its collaborators to subvert the collective will of the people.
    In the statement, the governor also condemned the action of the security agencies, accusing them of being biased and supportive to the opposition.
    He called on the Presidentto “carry out a thorough investigation and bring the perpetrators of election violence to book, to protect the nation’s democracy and serve as a deterrent to others.”
    He called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and other major stakeholders to protect the nation’s democracy in future elections.

  • Two heads

    Election violence will always be inexcusable because it is always pointless. What could have been the excuse for the bestiality recorded during the Rivers State legislative rerun across three senatorial districts on December 10?

    The chilling words of Maj-Gen. Kasimu Abdulkarim, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) the newly-created 6 Division of the Army in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital: “The most brutal incident occurred (during Saturday’s rerun) at Ujju community near Omoku in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers State, where a police patrol team was ambushed. In the ambush, 10 policemen scampered into the bush. The Mobile Police organised a rescue mission. Regrettably, the team discovered that DSP Alkali Mohammed of Mobile Police Unit 48 was beheaded along with his orderly. The patrol vehicle was taken away with weapons. Three policemen escaped. Five were missing in action.”

    Incidents like the one described have no place in any society that claims to be civilised. Who were the murderous ambushers? Why did they have to go as far as beheading two law enforcement agents? What was at stake, and who were the stakeholders?

    The foregoing account of what happened during the Rivers State rerun is, of course, not comprehensive. Maj-GenAbdulkarim was also quoted as saying: “In Gokana Local Government, armed hoodlums engaged the soldiers providing outer perimeter defence for the electorate. In Abonnema, at 0730 hours on Saturday, there were three explosions that created bedlam. Subsequently, 11 NYSC members were abducted along with electoral materials. However, 10 of them were rescued two hours later by the soldiers while one was rescued about eight hours later.”

    He continued: “Many shootings were recorded in some communities, such as Bodo-Ogoni (Gokana LGA), the hometown of the Secretary to the Rivers State Government (Chief Kenneth Kobani); B-Dere and Mogho in Gokana Local Government, including snatching of ballot boxes.”

    Of course, the account is still incomplete. Such accounts are never complete and can never be. The greater tragedy is that the public only hears about what it gets to hear about.

    It is unbelievable that all these and more happened because of the rerun. Behind it all are shadowy politicians who would do anything in the pursuit of political power.  They are the ones who help to create an enabling environment for violence and even more violence.

    The point must be made that violence is animalistic, which is a way of saying that those who encourage, sponsor and carry out these brutish acts are no better than lower animals.

  • Rivers rerun: INEC testifies in SSG, APC chief’s ‘election violence’ trial

    Rivers rerun: INEC testifies in SSG, APC chief’s ‘election violence’ trial

    •Commission: explosives, guns used in Gokana.

    The Department of State Securities (DSS) yesterday began the trial of the Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), Kenneth Kobani, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the House of Assembly, Azubike Wanjoku, in the March 19 Llegislative rerun in the state.

    Kobani was charged with conspiracy, breach of public peace and terrorism during the rerun in Bodo community of Gokana Local Government Area; Wanjoku was charged with obstructing public peace and intimidating electoral officers in his Ikwerre constituency.

    They pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail on self-recognition and N500,000.  The case was adjourned for definite hearing.

    At the resumed sitting yesterday, the DSS, through its prosecuting counsel, Chidi Eze, called two witnesses, one each for each of the accused.

    They were tried separately.

    A Deputy Director in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Abuja, Emmanuel Asuquo Isong, testified in the SSG case.

    Isong was the Electoral Officer (EO) in Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area, Kobani’s home town.

    The INEC officer told Justice Makhmud Liman of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, the state capital, that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains in the area, led by the then Local Government Care Taker Committee (CTC) chairman and their supporters, allegedly stopped the distribution of electoral materials on the claim that they were fake.

    He said the SSG, who was also the Minister for Labour and Productivity under former President GoodLuck Jonathan, was said to be at the RAC on that day.

    Isong said after the issue was resolved and INEC was about to carry on with the distribution of the materials, there was resistance from some people, including the party men and their boys, that the materials would not be distributed and that election would not be conducted with the materials.

    In the midst of the confusion, an explosive, suspected to be dynamite, was allegedly detonated in the INEC RAC office. The INEC officer said after a short while, another was detonated, followed by sporadic shootings.

    He said the EO and other ad hoc officers could not move in or out of the premised.

    Isong said security men rescued INEC officials and the ad hoc workers from the melee.

    The deputy director said they were returned to Port Harcourt without conducting the election.

    He said: “My name is Emmanuel Asuquo Isong. I am a Deputy Director in INEC’s Abuja office.”

    Recalling what happened on March 19, he said: “March 19 was a date fixed by INEC for the conduct of the rerun into the vacant seats of the Rivers State national and state legislative Assemblies.

    “In that election, I was posted to Gokana Local Government Area as the Electoral Officer. In the morning of the Election Day, before the distribution of electoral materials started, the local government chairman came and said that the electoral materials to be used for the election were fake.

    “When I looked closely, I discovered that the watershed logo of INEC on other materials was not on the House of Representatives result sheet. After much arguments and confusion, I, by the directive of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the party stalwarts and their agents present, agreed that I countersign on every result sheet, after which all the party agents countersigned on them.

    “After that, we announced that the distribution of materials was about to begin; so, we could go to the field. Then came an uproar, saying no, no, no. Before we knew it, one explosion had gone off in my office, gun shots sounding here and there. The environment became tense. After a while, another explosion went off. Somebody came and told me that they were after me and that I should not come out.

    “We were held hostage in the office by the sounds, until security operatives evacuated us, including the ad hoc workers and returned us to Port Harcourt office.”

    During cross-examination, the EO said: “I saw the accused person on the scene of the explosion (INEC office) and in the armoured vehicle in the place.”

    On APC chieftain Wanjoku, an INEC Administrative officer, Kingsley Osaze Osifo, said the accused disrupted the collation in Ikwerre Local Government Area.

    He said: “My name in Osifo Osaze Kingsley. I am an Administrative Officer of INEC. I work in the Benin office of the commission. But I was posted to Ikwerre Local Government Area as EO during the March legislative rerun. I was collating results at the council’s secretariat on Sunday, March 20, after the election of the previous day.

    “At 2 p.m, I saw the accused walk into the office in company of three other persons. He asked me a few questions on the whereabouts of my other colleagues and the party agents, who were supposed to be in the collation office. I answered him to the best of my knowledge.

    “The next thing he did was to ask me of his money. I told him that I did not understand what he meant. He held the materials I was collating, which were on the table, and held me, still asking for his money. I kept telling him that I did not understand him. I began to struggle with him until other people, including those he came with, appealed to him to leave me and took him away. Then, I continued with my job and there was no more trouble until I concluded my work.”

    Under cross-examination, led by the defence counsel Emenkie Ebete, the witness averred that he had seen the accused in one or two voter education and security meetings of INEC at the Port Harcourt office and on the council premises.

    But he said he had not had any close contact with him to warrant any exchange of money.

    The court adjourned the matter till October 28 for continuation of hearing.

     

  • Kogi sacks official for election violence

    A cashier with Olamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State yesterday became the first casualty of the violence that rocked last Saturday’s House of Assembly rerun.

    The official was sacked, after being identified as one of those who used guns and other weapons during the rerun in Ajaka, Igalamela Odolu Local Government Area.

    Violence during the rerun caused the death of one person in Dekina and the rescheduling of the supplementary election in some units in Ajaokuta till yesterday.

    Chairman of the state Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Alhaji Ali Atabor was beaten up in Kogi East.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said its worker involved in the Ajaokuta rerun was arrested for complicity in electoral malpractice and is under investigation.