Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), a civil rights advocacy group, has denounced the spread of violence related to the pre-election process in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi states ahead of the governorship elections on November 11.
HURIWA underscored that if state government leadership is about selfless service, then individuals who naturally wish to lead their states do not need to kill their people in order to be declared winners. Instead, HURIWA lamented the desperation of politicians who seek to acquire political power through unethical means.
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In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA stated that “the danger in cornering political office of state governor by bloodshed, hook or crook, is that the person brought to power through bloodshed will inevitably needs to survive by embarking on more violent ways to sustain their tenure of office so as to maximally syphon the resources accruable to their States through the federation account and internally generated revenues.”
The human rights organisation urged President Bola Tinubu to use the upcoming off-circuit elections in Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi as a yardstick to carve out his legacy as a statesman. Instead of unduly meddling in the conduct and result of the elections, he should create the conditions necessary for free, fair, and transparent elections that will uphold the will of the electorate.
“We regret to announce that the Independent National Electoral Commission, the body charged with overseeing elections, has continued to be a hotbed of electoral fraud. Election officials who have mishandled previous elections and escaped punishment have grown accustomed to the idea that there is little to no consequence for their actions, and these out-of-control officials think they can rig elections and the sky won’t fall,” the statement read.
HURIWA assigned the chief of defence staff, the national security adviser, the service chiefs, including the IGP and DG of DSS, the difficult task of thwarting any attempt by armed political thugs to sabotage the election process on Saturday. HURIWA also gave security personnel, particularly the police and members of the armed forces, very low scores in terms of neutrality.
“As the first elections the Service Chiefs will be securing, HURIWA is reminding them that this will be a litmus test to determine their patriotism and dedication to constitutional democracy in real time, not only on the pages of newspapers.
“We implore the Service Chiefs to remain impartial, patriotic, and statesmanlike, and not to be subverted by wealthy politicians who are desperate to seize the governorships of their individual states in the upcoming elections,” the organisation stated.
In order to discourage others, the rights group also called for action to be taken against those who attempted to rig the off-circle polls and cause disruptions.
