Afenifere to Political Parties:  Stop Verbal Attacks, Focus on Issues

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

Yoruba’s foremost socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has expressed concern over the increasing verbal and physical attacks that have characterised election campaigns in various parts of the country, urging political parties to focus on issues instead.

In a press release by the organisation’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, Afenifere stated that political parties and their candidates should focus on issues regarding how they would tackle the myriad of challenges that the country was facing rather than coming up with utterances and actions that bordered on “de-marketing of opponents and possibly causing bodily harms on other people.”

Afenifere recounted how politicians were of late “hurling serious verbal attacks on one another while physical attacks have also been reported in a few places. The latter even led to the loss of some lives in some instances”.

Maintaining that Nigerian politicians ought to have matured beyond the seeming villainy they currently display, Afenifere submitted that the “verbal attacks emanating from some candidates and their spokespersons were encouraging their unscrupulous supporters to violently attack opponents in a manner that could result in bloodshed.”

Expressing concern over the escalating violence in spite of various peace accords being signed by presidential candidates, Afenifere disclosed that a research organisation, SB Morgan had, in a report at the end of last year revealed that 27 Nigerians were killed in 57 politically-motivated violent incidents between January and December 2022.

The group also quoted the National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, Major General Babagana Monguno, as saying Nigeria recorded 52 acts of political violence across 22 states between October 8 and November 9.

Afenifere added that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had earlier said as at December 2022, it had recorded 50 attacks in 15 of the country’s 36 states and the federal capital (Abuja) since 2019, and that, there had been some other attacks since then including the ones that happened in Ogun, Osun, Imo, Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu States among others.

“Penultimate week, the attacks became so worrisome that INEC officials spoke of the danger the attacks could constitute for the smooth conduct of the forthcoming elections. Afenifere, like some other concerned groups and individuals in the country, issued serious warnings against anything that could cause a postponement or cancelation of the scheduled elections.

“Candidates and political parties that have good programmes to execute would not resort to verbal or physical attacks. We urge political parties and their candidates to focus on what plans they have to put an end or at least ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians. They should let us know that they understand they enormity of the problems facing us and that they have solutions to these problems. An end should be put to mutual self-abuse either verbally or physically,” Afenifere concluded.