Election: Okiro Tasks Police, Journalists on Professionalism

Ayodeji Ake

Retired Inspector General(IG) of Police,  Mike Okiro, tasked security personnel and journalists  to be professional in handling elections matters in the country.

Okiro, who  condemned attacks on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) materials during the last February 25,2023 presidential election, urged journalists  reporting any  ugly event, such as snatching of ballot boxes or destroying ballot papers or policemen compromising, to  indicate date and location in their reports  for easy verification by security agencies.

Okiro, who spoke newsmen in Lagos,  recently  condemned the attacks as he observed during the previous election and he charged security personnel on adequate security ahead of the governorship and state house of assembly elections.

He said: “Many critics, including international observers that monitored the February 25, 2023 presidential and national assembly elections, described the process as flawed and a travesty to democracy. Some of the areas fingered pointedly were that the elections were compromised and rigged, and that the poll results were doctored or
falsified. 

While the election was peaceful in some areas, the conduct was marred by widespread violence, intimidation of and forcefully preventing voters one way or the other from casting their ballots for the candidates of their choice.

“Some observers, for example, said they witnessed at least 135 critical incidents involving but not limited to the seizure or snatching of ballot boxes by brazen armed gangs and political thugs, vote buying, incredibly long delays and related election irregularities that undermined the freeness, fairness and credibility and legitimacy of the poll. All of these were seen to have culminated in the delay in uploading results from each of the 176,000 polling units in the country to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) portal.

“What strikes me the most in all of this, and which I consider objectionable and roundly condemnable, as a trained security officer, is the election violence and voter-intimidation, especially the use of gunmen and thugs to harass, scare away voters and election officials, as well as the snatching of ballot boxes. Sadly, some policemen were accused of watching helplessly while the violence was orchestrated. In some domains, certain persons were strongly accused of dishing out threats to voters to vote for certain candidates against their conscience or face dire consequences, like being driven away from the parts of the country they chose to live and do their businesses. In some other areas, the properties of Nigerians are being willfully destroyed ostensibly to cow them to vote for candidates that are not their choice. Should such conducts still be trailing Nigeria in the 21st Century? The answer is absolutely NO!.”

While defending the rights as spelt in the 1999 Nigerian constitution as amended, the former IG said Nigerians had the right to vote and be voted for in any part of the country, contrary to what has been described as tribal politics in Lagos as indicated my media reports.

“Indeed, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights unanimously adopted by the United Nations Organisation in 1948, and which Nigeria is signatory to, recognizes the crucial role free, open and fair elections play in giving effect to the fundamental right of citizens of any nation to participate in government. For, article 21 of the Declaration states that the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government, and that this ‘will’ shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot or equivalent free voting procedures.

“And whereas Chapter IV of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended), which spells out the fundamental human rights of citizens consciously or unconsciously left out voting rights, those rights are, nonetheless, implicit in Section 77 of the same Constitution and all the nation’s electoral laws till date. The Constitution guarantees the freedom of movement, as well as the freedom of any Nigerian to reside in any part of the country without molestation. It stipulates the freedom to vote and be voted for in any part of the country. Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians and any Nigerian has the right to contest election in any part of the country once such a citizen is qualified to stand for the election. Citizens should not be forced or cowed to vote for or pander to the dictates of any candidate other than the candidate of their choice,” he said.

In his plea, he urged netizens to take heed on spreading provocative news.

“I implore the social media to be very vigilant   and aggressive in capturing video clips of any form of election violence involving armed gangs and thugs hired by their principals to disrupt the polls. Persons, no matter how highly or lowly placed, threatening or forcing Nigerians to vote for candidates that are not their choice are not exempted, including policemen who helpless watch such irregularities,” he said.