The Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, on Thursday said some State Governors are promoting political violence ahead of the 2023 elections.
He disclosed this while speaking at a meeting with political parties and other stakeholders at the force headquarters in Abuja.
According to the IGP, the police have been receiving reports of some State Governors “who encourage political thugs and sub-national security outfits under their control to disrupt seamless and statutorily guaranteed campaign activities of parties or candidates with whom they hold opposing political views.
“In so doing, they deploy their powers and influences to either prevent the mounting of campaign bill boards or pull them down, while also denying political opponents of spaces to undertake their campaigns or peaceful political congregations in contravention of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.”
“Most of the recorded violent incidents or threats often result from political extremism, misinformation, intolerance, wrong political orientation, hate speeches, incitement, and, most importantly, the desperation of strategic actors within the political field who often place their parochial political ambitions over and above national security interests and our nation’s stable democratic order.”
“Such actors, usually give a wrong direction to their party faithful, arm them, re-orient them and encourage them to resort to the use of threat, violence, and other extra-legal means to frustrate competing political parties and impose their own faulty perception of politicking.
“Even more worrisome is the fact that just about a month ago, the aspirants in the eighteen (18) political parties publicly made a firm commitment to the nation to maintain peace and abide by rule of law and the Electoral Act in their political activities with the signing of the Peace Accord on 29th September, 2022.
The IGP urged INEC to take a decisive action against any political party or candidate who violates the electoral law
“I wish to similarly appeal to the Independent National Electoral Commission to, in cognisance of their critical regulatory, enforcement and supervisory roles as enshrined in the Electoral Act 2022, assert their statutory powers, and scale up their compliance actions towards complementing the Nigeria Police and other law enforcement agencies in checkmating the threats being poised to our democratic order by actors within the political system.
“INEC should take decisive actions parties, candidates, and other actors in relation to hate speeches; campaign funding regulations; encouraging, supporting, or inciting violence; and depriving political opponents of basic electoral rights guaranteed under the Act”.
The police boss said the force was putting in place measures to combat all forms of political violence ahead of the election season.
Some of the measures include heightened intelligence activity and increased deployment of security teams to all INEC assets and facilities nationwide.
The IGP also vowed to promptly arrest and prosecute persons found to have perpetuated electoral violence.
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“We have resolved to enhance intelligence gathering, sharing and utilization of same to stem acts of political violence; upscale the deployment of security teams to all INEC assets and facilities nationwide, with teams drawn from the Police, Nigeria Army, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Civil and Security Defence Corps, NSCDC, and the Federal Fire Service.
“Take decisive, lawful action against purveyors of hate speech, incitement to violence, mobilisation of thugs and other violations, including the prompt arrest, investigation, and prosecution of offenders, in line with the provisions of Sections 92 and 93 of the Electoral Act 2022 as amended. Those already arrested will face prosecution.”
Continuing, the IGP said: “This meeting with the leadership of the 18 registered political parties in the country became expedient, following a noticeable trend within the national political space which, if not promptly addressed, could evolve into a potent threat to not just our national security but the electoral process.
“Drawing from the experiences of the past, electoral violence, both in the process leading to an election as well as the fall out of elections, has always constituted the most dangerous threat to our democracy. Political violence manifest in three forms.
“First is violence that is targeted at the personnel and assets of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as recently witnessed in Ogun and Osun states.
The second form of political violence manifests in the form of inter-party intolerance and violence which often become particularly pronounced during campaigns, elections, and post-elections phases.
“It is on record that not less than 52 cases of such politically-motivated, intra, and inter-party violence have been recorded across 22 states since the official commencement of campaigns for the 2023 general elections on September 28, 2022.
“The last form of political violence relates to the conduct of some state governors who manifest traits of political intolerance which often inflame political tension.”
He appealed to the leadership of each political party in the country to shun violence before,during and after the election.
“Despite all these initiatives, it is recognised that the leadership of each political party is critical in eradicating the menace of political intolerance, threat, violence and other negative tendencies in our democratic culture. This is because they are the strategic gatekeepers to our democracy whose conducts or misconducts do have a reverberating effect on the actions of their followers as well as on the national political space,”he said
“It is for this reason that I wish to appeal to the leadership of all political parties here seated to be determined to show the right leadership virtues and publicly dissociate themselves from acts of political brigandage and violence as this is the only way we can reassure our citizens and the international community of our nation’s commitment to a peaceful 2023 General Elections.”
To complement this, “Mr. President had at various global and national platforms openly affirmed his commitment to deepen our democratic journey by encouraging the virtues of a peaceful electoral process in which the interests and wishes of the electorates take pre-eminence.
“This, ladies, and gentlemen, is the foundation of democracy, and a deviation from this standard can only engender chaos within the national security space and threaten our democratic heritage.”