CSOs warn against use of federal power during Edo guber election

Chairman, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Comrade Auwal Musa Rafisanjani on Tuesday urged President Bola Tinubu and various Security Agencies on the need to ensure credible, free and fair elections during the forthcoming Edo State Governorship election.

Comrade Rafisanjani gave the charge in Abuja during a press conference towards the September 21, 2024, Off-Cycle Elections in Edo State, expressed grave concern over issues bothering on non-credible political party primary election, incidences of physical violence, use of political thugs and arms, among others.

While calling on Federal Government and all institutions to steer clear of Edo State Governorship election, Comrade Rafisanjani warned against the use of federal might in the bid to suppress other political parties.

He maintained that: “election is not war or a do-or-die affair. It is simply a civic matter. Political parties should play by the rules of the game and shun violence including inciting statements and utterances capable of leading to violence. This is critical as TMG will continue to monitor the activities of political parties and their supporters now, during and after the election.

“INEC staff and other electoral officials must conduct and hold themselves to the highest order. Logistic preparation must be top-notch to eliminate scepticism about the credibility of the election.

“The Nigeria police, other security agencies, law enforcement agencies should not stand aloof while unruly people commit crimes or take laws into their hands before, during and after the elections. At the same time, security agents must desist from being used as enablers of malpractices and mayhem during the election.

“Faith-based organizations, civil society organizations, and traditional and religious leaders should foster peace in their relationships with candidates and political parties in the build of to the September 21, 2024, elections in Edo state.

“Candidates are encouraged to speak to the issues, convey their messages to the citizens and supporters focusing on their manifesto without resorting to personal attack. By now, all the candidates are expected to have documented their manifestos to serve as reference material to the public which the citizen can use as bases to track their performance in office.

“We urge Edo people to participate fully in the governorship election to cast their votes for their preferred parties and candidates. Citizens must conduct themselves peacefully and serve as agents of protection of the credibility of the election by ensuring observance of the process. Voters must desist and reject any attempt to buy their votes as that has not been seen to bring about good governance anywhere in Nigeria.”

He lamented that with the experiences of the 2023 general elections and the off-cycle elections in Imo, Kogi, and Bayelsa still fresh in the minds of citizens, there is still skepticism regarding the credibility of elections in Nigeria.

“Unfortunately, this skepticism bothers the conduct of the Independent National Election Commission (INEC), the political parties and their candidates as well as the security agencies and party supporters.

“TMG is not only interested in observing elections but also interested in seeing how the elections translate to good governance. Hence, we have been monitoring the pre-election situations in Edo state. This press conference is coming off the back of very disturbing and worrisome occurrences in Edo as noted from TMGs Pre-election Environment Situation Observation efforts ahead of the September 21st election. These occurrences do not only portend danger for the election but also leaves a big question mark on the ability of political parties in Nigeria to conduct its affairs democratically.

“The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) finds it necessary to call the attention of the public and government, especially the critical stakeholders on some of the issues and call for concerted efforts to address these obvious challenges ahead of the election.”

Comrade Rafisanjani who is also the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), who called on Nigeria Police and other security agencies to be non-partisan, and maintained that the party primaries in Edo failed to represent these democratic ideals.

“To put it very mildly, the party primaries of the political parties in Edo were mere selections of candidates by party bigwigs. Regrettably, when all the political parties compromise their choices, it means that the electorates will not have any better choices but to choose from the wrong people who emerge through compromised processes.

“Sadly also, it is the undemocratic nature of the party primaries that have always led to the barrage of court cases that accompany primary elections in Nigeria. In the end, a number of those cases have been decided on technical grounds that do not necessarily reflect the wishes of the electorate at the poll. It is therefore important for political parties to subject the primary elections through the right processes to reduce the incidence of courts deciding winners of elections. TMG believes strongly that elections should be decided at the polls and not the courts.

“There have been incidences of political parties intolerance and violence including inter/intra-party conflicts ahead of the election, signalling a poor atmosphere for a peaceful election in Edo state. On July 18, 2024, a Police Officer, Inspector Akor Onu, an orderly to APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo, was killed outside the Airport in a clash that reportedly erupted between the supporters of the APC candidate Sen Monday and Hon. Philip Shaibu, the Deputy Governor of the state who was said to be on homecoming after the Court ruling on July 17, 2024, had reinstated him as the deputy governor of the state.

“While the political parties blame each other for the shooting, no news has been heard about the arrest or prosecution of perpetrators. These ugly incidents can disruptt the peace of the election, discourage citizens participation, and the general credibility of the election

“There have also been reports of the destruction of campaign materials and personal properties by suspected political opponents. The recruitment and deployment of thugs to intimate and harass non-supporters of certain political parties are highly undemocratic and condemnable.”

The TMG Chairman further lamented that the process of voters cards collection has also been riddled with violence in some centres in Edo. At one of the locations, it was reported that unknown armed thugs were seen harassing, threatening and eventually chasing away prospective voters who had turned out to collect their Permanent Voters Card (PVC). Some of these incidences have been well reported in the national dailies.
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE