2023: Need to Forestall Pre-election Violence

Several recent worrisome incidents point to the imperative of pre-empting pre-election violence to ensure a peaceful 2023 general election, writes Louis Achi

No fewer than three supporters of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar last week escaped death by the whiskers. The trio, who were reportedly attacked by suspected political thugs, received several machete cuts while trying to mount a campaign billboard in support of  Atiku in Omuma Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Reacting to the incident, spokesperson of the Rivers State Civil Society Organisations (RIVSCO), Solomon Lenu, condemned the incident. Also, the spokesperson of the Atiku Campaign Organisation in Rivers State, Dr. Leloonu Nwibubasa, condemned the incident, saying it was a pity that such an incident would be happening in the state at this time.

In another incident, the convoy of Atiku was attacked in Maiduguri, Borno State, last Wednesday. The presidential campaign trail of the opposition party had landed in Borno, an All Progressives Congress (APC)-controlled state.

Spokesman of the Atiku Campaign, Senator Dino Malaye, blamed the attack on the ruling party in Borno, lamenting that more than 70 people were hospitalised. His words: “They wanted to prevent us from holding the campaign, as we speak, 74 people were injured and hospitalised. He blamed it on the APC.

A statement signed by the Media Adviser to Atiku, Paul Ibe, noted that hoodlums wielding the flag of the APC attacked the convoy of vehicles conveying dignitaries to the venue of the Maiduguri rally.

According to him, “It is rather unfortunate that the APC in Borno State mobilieed some of its members to attack the convoy carrying dignitaries who had earlier paid a courtesy visit at the Shehu of Borno palace to the venue of the rally. While it is well understood that such barbaric behaviour is typical of the APC, it must be noted that, this time around, it is specifically the last kick of a dying horse.”

In a twist to the incident, the APC differed over attacks on the convoy of the PDP presidential candidate by suspected thugs. The Director of Media and Publicity for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, alleged the attack could be the result of in-fighting in the Borno State chapter of the PDP, insisting that the APC had no hand in the violence.

But according to media reports, miscreants stoned Atiku’s convoy while on its way to the palace of Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Umar Garbai El-Kanemi, to pay homage, sparking apprehension in the state. Scores of persons were reportedly injured when the hoodlums pelted the convoy with stones, sticks and other weapons.

Confirming the attack, the Borno State PDP Chairman, Zanna Gaddama said, “It is true that some miscreants from the APC attacked Atiku’s convoy along the road from the airport to Shehu’s palace. “They attacked at three locations – one after (Jagwal) cellphone market, another around one of the roundabouts on the road and by the House of Sir Kashim Ibrahim (the governor of the defunct Northern Region) just before the Shehu’s palace.”

However, the Borno State Police Command discredited claims of an attack on the motorcade of Atiku at the Maiduguri rally. Police spokesman, ASP Kamilu Shatambaya, told journalists that the allegation was baseless and had no truth in it. He described the report that Atiku was attacked while addressing a rally in Maiduguri as mischievous. He said the allegation was fake, a hoax and an attempt to incite disturbances and disrupt peaceful co-existence of people of the state.

He explained that the rally was conducted successfully under tight and adequate security coverage and that, “The candidate was accompanied to the Shehu of Borno’s palace after which he was accompanied to the Ramat Square where he addressed his supporters. The Commissioner for Police, Mr. Abdu Umar, was also at the venue to ensure that everything went on successfully.

ASP Shatambaya however conceded that “One Danladi Abbas (32) was arrested at Airport Road, Maiduguri, for throwing stones at the motorcade of the presidential candidate.

 “Abbas and other hoodlums attempted to disrupt the motorcade, but they were chased and luckily one of them was arrested and taken away for questioning,’’ he said.

Shatambaya stated that nobody had reported any case of attack to any police station within Maiduguri and Jere. “We also went round hospitals to ascertain the claim that more than 74 persons were hospitalised, but no such patient was found,’’ he added.

It could be recalled that Atiku’s campaign train had come under similar attack during a rally in Kaduna on October 17, a few days after thugs attacked the supporters of the party in Zamfara State leading to the death of at least one person, while several others were injured.

These incidents which are not confined to PDP’s Atiku clearly foreshadow potentially bloody violence that could actually threaten both the validity and credibility of the impending general elections in 2023.

Worried by the emerging pre-election violence, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had warned that incidences of physical attacks on party supporters and destruction of campaign materials across the country are unacceptable and a violation of the Electoral Act.

But beyond the customary rhetoric, state authorities must bring suspected political thugs and other identified perpetrators of pre-election, election and post-election violence to justice to prevent further human rights abuses. The previous reprehensible culture of infrequent and often inadequate investigations must yield to more accountable and sterner measures against deviants and their sponsors.

More, government authorities must act to protect peoples’ lives and all political candidates should denounce violence and tell their supporters to campaign peacefully. Presidential debates and town hall meetings are good opportunities for candidates to make such a commitment. In effect, candidates who avoid such fora should be appropriately censured.

This approach is crucial because nearly all of Nigeria’s elections since independence have been tainted with violence. Significantly, pretty little has changed since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999 to elections of 2019 and the off-cycle polls.

According to a recent HumAngle report, “In trying to understand why what is supposed to be the hallmark of democracy faces such repeated challenges, fingers have been pointed at various factors. These range from weak governance to the ineffectiveness of security forces, poverty and unemployment, abuse of power, political alienation, a climate of impunity, a ‘winner-takes-all’ political system, and the proliferation of small arms.” 

President Muhammadu Buhari must give substance to his repeated pledges and ensure he stays on the right side of history by ensuring that the 2023 general election under  his watch is conducted with utmost integrity and safety.

Even the National Peace Committee, headed by General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), needs to prevail on political parties not only to stick to the rules, but must also comply with the agreement they signed recently.