Endangering Nigeria’s Democracy in Rivers

Political actors and their collaborators who are determined to use the police, thugs and fetish means to stop the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State from filing petition at the election petition tribunal should be stopped before they set dangerous precedence that may spread to other states with similar autocratic leadership and truncate Nigeria’s democracy, Ejiofor Alike writes

Nigeria’s democracy has been truncated twice since independence in 1960 due largely to the failure of the political class to play by the rules of the game.

But despite the harrowing experience of politicians and other Nigerians when democracy was interrupted in the country, political actors have refused to allow this system of government to thrive in the country. Events surrounding the 2023 general election where violence was unleashed on voters by state-sponsored actors, especially in Lagos, Rivers and many other states have shown that politicians have not learnt any lesson from the country’s past experience.

As Lagos is still battling with the widespread outrage that greeted the violence unleashed on voters, which tainted the image of the state as Centre of Excellence, similar actions threatening democracy have taken a dangerous dimension in Rivers State.

After allegedly manipulating the 2023 elections, the political leadership in the state have taken impunity to the next level by attempting to deny the candidates the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) claimed to have lost the elections from taking their cases to the tribunal.

INEC had claimed that the APC won the presidential election in the PDP state, but lost the National Assembly elections conducted at the same time to the PDP. The electoral body also declared the PDP as winner of the governorship election and the majority of the state House of Assembly seats in the March 18 elections.

However, the agents of the state government behind the alleged electoral frauds resorted to the use of thugs and the police to stop the APC from challenging the results of the March 18 elections at the tribunal.

Trouble started for the Rivers APC penultimate Saturday when some officers and men of the Nigeria Police unlawfully and illegally arrested the lawyers and the support staff of Tuduru Ede (SAN) &Co, who were preparing election petitions for the APC candidates in a hotel along Tombia Road, GRA Phase 2, Port Harcourt.

The police officers also seized all their documents containing the evidence of the alleged fraud in the elections in a bid to stop the APC from filing petitions within the 21 days stipulated by the law. The arrested lawyers include Aondo Jerry, Dr. Nelson U. Sobere, and Odum C. Eyiba.

Hours later, the police authorities in the state released the lawyers following the public outrage that trailed the action of the police.

But the election documents and the laptops with which the lawyers were working were reportedly seized by the police.

Other items seized from the lawyers include exhibits required for their petition defence, such as the agent’s copy of Form EC8 and CTC of INEC documents.

The plot to frustrate the filing of election petitions was allegedly part of the agenda of the PDP-led government in the state to ensure that the alleged electoral malpractices in the March 18 election were not challenged at the tribunals.

The PDP-led state government that worked against the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar was accused of being responsible for the alleged manipulations of the elections in the state.

However, the Rivers State APC did not raise an objection against the outcome of the presidential election since the results favoured the APC.

But when the March 18 elections were allegedly manipulated in a similar manner to favour the PDP, the APC in the state cried foul.

However, the dangerous attempt to use the police and other undemocratic means to stop the APC from filing petitions attracted widespread condemnations.

While the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) said it was unfortunate and disturbing for police officers to be used as tools for contravening the rule of law, a human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) also condemned the action of the police officers.

On its part, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) described the action of the police as “impunity,” which must stop.

Before the release of the lawyers, Falana had raised the alarm that the police wanted to stop the lawyers from filing election petitions by arraigning them in Magistrate’s Court on Monday based on allegations of forging election materials.

The Rivers State police were allegedly used in similar circumstances to stop Atiku’s supporters from holding meetings in the state to plan for the presidential campaign rally of the former vice president, which eventually did not hold in the state.

After the Saturday incident, the use of naked power by the agents of the state government continued last Monday as gunshots disrupted a visit by members of the APC to the INEC office, in Port Harcourt, to demand for the Certified True Copies (CTC) of the March 18 election result sheets.

While the APC members were planning to get to INEC office, placard-carrying supporters of the PDP had already barricaded the area, insisting that the INEC officials should release CTC documents to them too.

Immediately, the APC governorship candidate in the state, Tonye Cole and other party leaders were proceeding to the INEC office, some PDP thugs attacked them, and denied them access to the office.

As gunshots rented the air, one person was hit by a stray bullet from either the policemen who were trying to scare the protesters or the thugs who were also wielding arms.

The APC state secretariat in GRA, Port Harcourt was later attacked by thugs, who were escorted by men in police uniform.

Lamenting the threat to his life by the thugs, Cole, who spoke to THISDAY at the scene of the incident, alleged that the thugs working for the PDP had threatened to kill him.

“The same people that arrested our lawyers were those that led the thugs to attack our party secretariat,” Cole said.

Asked if they would return to the INEC office for the documents, Cole said, “Now, if they (INEC) are not going to release it here, they will either put it in a bullion van and send to me or they will carry it to Abuja, but INEC cannot deny us those documents.”

The action of the PDP in Rivers took an embarrassing turn on Tuesday when the party’s supporters dumped fetish materials in front of the INEC office in Port Harcourt.

A man who dressed like a ‘juju priest’ adorned in red cloth with his head and waist wrapped with palm fronds, was seen presiding over the fetish activities. He was pouring libations, and making incantations in a local dialect.

The highest political leadership in Rivers State has taken impunity to a dangerous level and should be stopped in its shameful use of naked power to truncate Nigeria’s democracy.

Unfortunately, prominent Nigerians and lovers of democracy, who should rise against the excessive abuse of executive power in the state have remained silent.