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•1050 killed in three elections

•Leaders fiddle while INEC offices burn

• INEC suffers 55 attacks since 2019

By Omeiza Ajayi, Abuja

When the 84th Congress of the United States of America USA passed legislation (Pub.L. 84–851), which was signed by President Eisenhower on July 30, 1956, declaring the phrase, In God We Trust, as the national motto of the country, the Americans did not foresee that several decades later, a class of Nigerian politicians would alter the phrase to be “In Gun We Trust”, for their own sinister ends.

Like “gunboat diplomacy”,  Nigeria’s unique form of the leadership recruitment process can rightly be called “gunboat democracy” because most elected officials enter into offices through the barrels of a gun, or rather, through violence.

In many states, intimidation is the order of the day. This is why when local government elections are conducted, it is the ruling party at the state level that usually sweeps all the council seats. In order to lay claims to legitimacy, a few state executives would cede one local government chairmanship seat or a few councillorship seats to the opposition.

History of violent polls

Nigeria is no stranger to electoral violence.

The first election in Nigeria signposted what was to come several years later.

Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa had in 1964/65 organized general and regional elections which were tainted with violence, leading to the killings of over 200 people, according to statistics from Human Rights Watch, HRW.

Since that time, there has been no election in Nigeria without Nigerians being killed. The least casualties recorded in the annals of election in Nigeria was in 1999 when “only” 80 persons were killed. In 2011, perhaps the year in which the ‘dogs and the baboons’ were soaked in blood, 800 people were killed, including no fewer than nine participants in the National Youth Service Corps NYSC whose only offence was that they were serving their father land.

For the records, and in their honour, those killed were Teidi Tosin Olawale (from Osun State, BSc Computer Science); Nkwazema Anslem Chukwunonyerem (Imo State, HND Electrical Electronic Engineering); Okpokiri Obinna Michael (Abia State, BSc Environmental Management); Adowei Elliot (Bayelsa State, BSc Computer Science); and, Adewunmi Seun Paul (Ekiti State, BSc, Social Sciences).

Other NYSC members, who were gruesomely murdered during the election in Bauchi were Adeniji Kehinde Jehleel (Osun State, BSc Banking & Finance); Gbenjo Ebenezer Ayotunde (Osun State, BSc, Education Economics); Ukeoma Ikechukwu Chibuzor (Imo State, BSc Medical Microbiology); and, Akonyi Ibrahim Sule (Kogi State, HND Business Administration). May their souls continue to rest in peace!

Despite the outrage, the figure could well have been higher in 2015 were it not for the statesmanship displayed by the then-President Goodluck Jonathan who promptly conceded defeat to then-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) and avoided using state actors to subvert the process. One hundred people were killed in that election while 150 were killed in 2019, according to HRW.

New dimension

Curiously, electoral violence in Nigeria has assumed a horrible twist, with the electoral umpire, now being the victim.

Vandalism on INEC offices, arson and outright killing of its staff are the new weapons that anti-democratic forces have fashioned against the commission.

From the hoodlums who hijacked the #EndSARS protests to bandits, Boko Haram insurgents, and thugs engaged for election violence, the new catch phrase is “unknown gunmen” who hide under the canopy of their seeming invincibility to unleash terror on the commission.

But those are not the only culprits. There have been a string of multi-pronged attacks on INEC and its affable chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

At a time when stakeholder support is needed by INEC, there have been unfortunate attacks from partisans who are against Yakubu’s continued deployment of technological innovations to enhance the electoral process.

The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS and the INEC Results in Viewing Portal IReV, have come under attacks by partisans, especially of the ruling party stock – the All Progressives Congress APC whose trio of the National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, its National Organizing Secretary, Alhaji Sulaiman Argungu and its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu have recently expressed strong misgivings about the BVAS.

There have been attempts to oust the INEC chairman, allegedly, by those who wanted the commission to publish their names on the final list of candidates despite their parties not having conducted valid primaries and against orders of courts of competent jurisdiction.

INEC wrestles with 600 cases

As of November 7, 2022, INEC was dealing with over 600 court cases, most of which are affecting its preparations for the election.

In one instance, a certain Emmanuel Agonsi had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to compel Prof. Yakubu to declare his assets and those of his unmarried adult children. In another instance, one Prince Njoku was also at the Federal High Court in Umuahia, still on the same subject matter. The cases were dismissed by the courts.

Executive Director, Centre for Transparency Advocacy CTA, Ms. Faith Nwadishi in her reaction noted that anti-BVAS agents were looking for any means possible to get at the INEC boss.

Urging the judiciary to be circumspect in granting reliefs being sought by some persons against INEC and its chairman, Ms Nwadishi said; “Nigerians are ready to protect the country’s democratic journey with everything within our legitimate resources including our blood and the BVAS has proved to be the greatest nightmare to election riggers and we must protect it”.

Wave of attacks on INEC facilities

Since the 2019 general election, there has been a consistent wave of attacks on INEC offices and or its facilities.

While the electoral umpire suffered nine attacks in 2019, 21 attacks in 2020, it had 11 in 2021.

In 2022, the attacks on the commission’s offices are no longer restricted to the South Eastern part of the country. While attacks in the zone have continued unabated, the recent incidents in Ogun and Osun states have jolted a lot of Nigerians.

The attackers destroyed the main building of INEC in Ogun State and other facilities such as 904 ballot boxes, 29 voting cubicles, 30 megaphones, 57 election bags, eight electric power generators and 65,699 uncollected Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).

On the same day, arsonists and thugs set ablaze the INEC building at Oke Iresi, Ede South Local Government of Osun State.

In the end, what these violent politicians seek to achieve is voter apathy and intimidation of electoral officials. An election in which fewer people participate as voters, is easier to manipulate. This must never be allowed to happen.

Fiddling while INEC offices burn

Irked by the growing wave of election – related violence across the country, President Muhammadu Buhari cautioned politicians about the consequences of their actions, warning them to rein in their thugs or risk commensurate backlash from law enforcement agencies.

According to him, the Federal Government is concerned about the resort to violence by politicians, saying within a space of one month, from October 8 to November 9, 52 such incidents were recorded across 22 states. Following the three attacks in Imo, between December 1 and 7, the electoral umpire has witnessed 55 attacks since 2019.

The president’s admonition came as INEC also decried the spate of violence in the country, particularly in relation to electioneering ahead of next year’s general election.

Buhari’s “strong” pronouncements on the sad development have not helped matters. It is time for him to walk his talk and halt the gradual descent into anarchy, which the consistent attacks on INEC offices signify. Fears of violence disrupting the 2023 elections are spreading in most parts of the country. Measures must be taken now to check the seeming gunboat democracy.

First, Governors and heads of security agencies in states where INEC facilities are attacked should be held responsible. The governors should be made to build the damaged offices and pay for other valuables destroyed.

The Electoral Offences Commission Bill needs to become a law as soon as possible. The presidency should work with the National Assembly to fast-track the process.

In the interim, the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice should work with the Judiciary to designate some courts for electoral offences. This will avoid the snail speed with which electoral offences are tried in Nigeria.

Where these fail, INEC may have to ultimately resort to the use of vigilance teams and hunters to secure its offices nationwide, after all, poisons are cured with poisons.

May Nigerian politicians never have the opportunity to shout, “To Gun be the Glory”, after the 2023 general election.