CAMPAIGN FOR A VIOLENCE FREE ELECTIONS AND OPERATION COLLECT YOUR PVCs

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A Paper Presentation by Hon. Destiny Oghayerio Enabulele, PDP House of Assembly Candidate for  Ovia South West Constituency, Edo State House of Assembly, Immediate Past Chairman of Ovia South West Local Govt. Council, Full Member Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA)

PROTOCOLs

Brief Overview of Electoral Violence

Electoral violence is regarded as physical violence unleashed by political thugs used in election rigging processes or by the masses reacting against the theft of an election.

Methods used by the former include the physical assault of opponents of their paymasters, attacks on properties, shootings, kidnappings, ballot-box snatching, assassination, and so on, and by the latter include riots, the beating up of electoral officials and the police, setting public

property alight, burning tyres in the streets to disrupt traffic, and so on. Albert (2007, p 136) observes that ‘extant literature on electoral violence in Nigeria focuses on this type of violence’.

However, following the reconceptualisation of violence as having not merely a physical dimension but also psychological and structural dimensions, Albert (2007, p 133) defines electoral violence as ‘all forms of organized acts or threats – physical, psychological, and structural – aimed at intimidating, harming, blackmailing a political stakeholder before, during, and after election with a view to determining, delaying, or otherwise influencing an electoral process’.

According to Albert (2007), electoral violence involves all forms of organized acts of threats aimed at intimidating, harming, blackmailing a political stakeholder or opponent before, during and after an election with an intention to determine, delay or influence a political process.

Ogundiya and Baba (2005) see electoral violence as all sorts of riots, demonstrations, party clashes, political assassinations, looting, arson, thuggery, kidnapping spontaneous or not, which occur before, during and after elections. Fischer (2002) defines electoral violence (conflict) as any random or organized act that seeks to determine, delay, or otherwise influence an electoral process through threat, verbal intimidation, hate speech, disinformation, physical assault, forced “protection”, blackmail, destruction of property, or assassination.

Similarly, Igbuzor (2010), sees electoral violence as: Any act of violence perpetuated in the course of political activities including, pre, during and post election periods, and may include any of the following acts: thuggery, use of force to disrupt political meetings or voting at polling stations, or the use of dangerous weapons to intimidate voters and other electoral process or to cause bodily harm or injury to any person connected with electoral processes.



Electoral Violence Prior to 1999

Electoral violence in Nigeria is traceable to the first republic especially during the 1964/65 elections. The dominant political parties in the first republic, namely; the Action Group (AG), the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC) were ethnically based parties that wanted to maintain the wide followership they enjoyed from the regions were they emerged.

AG was essentially the party for the Yoruba race, NCNC was regarded as Ibo party, while NPC was predominantly an Hausa/Fulani party.

During the 1964/65 elections, politicians were involved in wide scale murder, kidnapping and arson.

Also, there were gross irregularities in the conduct of the elections that precipitated the military to stage a coup that ended Nigeria’s first democratic experiment. Electoral violence reared its ugly head again during the highly controversial 1983 general elections. 

The elections were massively rigged for instance, in the then Oyo and Ondo states, the two Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) controlled states were declared for the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN). 

The announcement led to the outbreak of violence (Babarinsa, 2002). 

The scandalous 1983 elections caused general apathy among Nigerians. It was not surprising when the military intervened by ousting President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983.

Post 1999 Electoral Violence

The culture of impunity of electoral violence become alarming in the post 1999 era. In this era, electoral violence is undertaken through various ways: (Alemika 2011; Albert; 2007):

a. Prevention of  supporters of opponents to register or vote in elections

b. Prevention of opposition parties or individuals to campaign in areas where a political party or individual has its electoral strength

c. Intimidating and /or preventing supporters of a political opponent from voting

d. Scaring supporters of opponents from the polling centres to enable the party or candidate that is at advantage to stuff, snatch or switch ballot boxes

e. Politicians and their political parties using their thugs at the collation centres to intimidate officials to falsify results in their favour; scaring away oppositions so that ballot boxes containing vote from oppositions‟ stronghold may be destroyed and switching or exchanging of boxes containing genuine votes with ballot boxes containing papers, illegal thumb –printed by thugs and party supporters

f. Declaring results, during which those who lost and feel cheated may ignite violent protest resulting in affray, arson and murder

g. Competing for nomination during party primaries among politicians which might lead to violent confrontations between supporters of rival politicians and parties or assassination of opponents, and

h. Attempt by the ruling party to muzzle opposition and critics which it finds or consider intolerant.

Importance of PVC as a tool in actualising your electoral mandate

INEC lamented that there were over 20 million unclaimed voter’s cards in its offices nationwide. 

The maximum collection of voter’s cards and turnouts to vote on election day are crucial in determining the democratic outcomes of elections.

Nigerian democracy is suffering from the double apathy of voter’s card collection and turnout to vote.

We must all participate actively in the electoral process and avoid statements like, ‘our votes do not count’. 

If votes don’t count, politicians won’t bribe or pay people to vote for them”

Has the political revolution started here in Nigeria? That was the million-naira question that bogged the mind of yours truly a few months back. 

It was after the media got awash with news items of the rush for Permanent Voters Card (PVC) by thousands of eligible voters across the country. 

In fact, the recent demand by thousands of voters who besieged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices to register and collect their PVC got the top-notch of the electoral body alarmed.

One can therefore, understand the push by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 185 concerned Nigerians on INEC to extend the deadline beyond June 30, 2022. 

They had filed the lawsuit against INEC asking the court to “declare unconstitutional, illegal, and incompatible with international standards the failure of the electoral body to extend the deadline for voter registration to allow eligible Nigerians to exercise their rights.”

But beyond that, the rush must be all because many more Nigerians are getting to understand that: “Voting is the expression of our commitment to ourselves, one another, this country, and this world” as Sharon Salzberg, a New York Times bestselling author rightly noted. Given the gross failure of successive administrations, even under the democratic dispensation to meet the basic needs of Nigerians such as security, food security, stable electric power supply, sound and affordable education and healthcare delivery, millions of Nigerians are currently becoming aware that the choices they make during general elections would eventually define and determine their quality of life.

Indeed, many public affairs analysts have attributed this recent rush to the on-going massive sensitization by some notable musicians, movie-makers and other celebrities.

Others include philanthropists, civil society organizations (CSOs), the media and some politicians who understand the power of the people when it comes to the electoral process. 

Not left out are clergymen.

For instance, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has not only called on its members to get their PVCs but has urged the INEC to publish names of centres where voters who registered online can collect their PVCs ahead of next year’s election.

There are however, electoral offences prescribed by Nigerian Law as at 31st January, 2017.  

Anyone found to be in breach of any of these provisions is liable to being arrested and charged to court and prosecuted by INEC after investigation by the relevant security agencies. In spite of this assurance, many desperate Nigerian politicians are getting more devious by the day.

It means that come 2023, it is not all about eligible voters getting their PVCs but mustering the moral courage to say “No!” to all manner of inducements, be it money, food items, clothes or snacks. 

They should come to the full realization that as part of the principles of democracy, power belongs to the people and not the political elite. That is especially the crop of politicians who strongly but erroneously believe that with their Ill-gotten, filthy money they can buy anybody, including the voters.

These are conscienceless politicians who collect humongous sums from the Federation Account every blessed month but blatantly refuse to pay the hungry workers and pensioners their well-deserved dues. 

These are power-hungry politicians who turn deaf ears to the cries of members of ASUU and the undergraduates, who are agonizing over eight months strike, while their children study under the best of enabling environment in foreign lands.

Nigerian voters must this time around NOT sell their children’s future to their oppressors, masquerading as their saints and saviours. 

We have had enough of the king-slave mentality and enough of the masses suffering penury in the midst of our God-given abundant, natural resources. 

The voters should understand that: “The most important office, and the one which all of us can and should fill, is that of private citizen as ” Louis Brandeis canvassed.

In the wise words of Harry Emerson Fosdick: “Democracy is based upon the conviction there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.” We, the voters who are the ‘ordinary people’ should stand firm and understand that “Our political leaders will know our priorities only if we tell them, again and again, and if those priorities begin to show up in the polls” as Peggy Noonan counselled.

Go and collect your PVCs. INEC won’t bring them to you. Your vote is your power.

Thank you and God bless

References

Albert, I.O. (2007). Reconceptualizing electoral violence in Nigeria, In I.O. Albert, D. Marco and V. Adetula (Eds). Perspectives on the 2003 Elections in Nigeria. Abuja: IDASA and Sterling-Holding Publishers.

Alemika, Etannibi EO 2011, Privatization of Secuity , Arms Proliferation and Electoral

Violence in Nigeria‟ in Lai Olurode and Attahi Jega(eds) Security Challenges of Election Management in Nigeria FES/INEC, Abuja.

Babarinsa, D. (2002). 

The house of war. Lagos. Tell Communication Publishers.

Fischer, J. (2010). “Electoral Conflict and Violence: A Strategy for Study and Prevention”. Washington, D.C: International Foundation for Election Systems

Igbuzor, O. (2010). Electoral violence in Nigeria. Asaba, Action Aid

Nigeria.

INEC’s website, Map of 2011 Presidential Election Map. See http://www.inecnigeria.org

Ogundiya, S.I. and Baba, T.K. (2005). Election Violence and the Prospects of Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria in Odofin & Omojuwa (eds) ops cit.

Council, Full Member Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA)

Brief Overview of Electoral Violence

Electoral violence is regarded as physical violence unleashed by political thugs used in election rigging processes or by the masses of the people reacting against the theft of an election. 

Methods used by the former include the physical assault of opponents of their paymasters, attacks on properties, shootings, kidnappings, ballot-box snatching, assassination, and so on, and by the latter include riots, the beating up of electoral officials and the police, setting public

property alight, burning tyres in the streets to disrupt traffic, and so on.

Albert (2007, p 136) observes that ‘extant literature on electoral violence in Nigeria focuses on this type of violence’.

However, following the reconceptualisation of violence as having not merely a physical dimension but also psychological and structural dimensions, Albert (2007, p 133) defines electoral violence as ‘all forms of organized acts or threats – physical, psychological, and structural – aimed at intimidating, harming, blackmailing a political stakeholder before, during, and after election with a view to determining, delaying, or otherwise influencing an electoral process’.

According to Albert (2007), electoral violence involves all forms of organized acts of threats aimed at intimidating, harming, blackmailing a political stakeholder or opponent before, during and after an election with an intention to determine, delay or influence a political process.

Ogundiya and Baba (2005) see electoral violence as all sorts of riots, demonstrations, party clashes, political assassinations, looting, arson, thuggery, kidnapping spontaneous or not, which occur before, during and after elections.

 Fischer (2002) defines electoral violence (conflict) as any random or organized act that seeks to determine, delay, or otherwise influence an electoral process through threat, verbal intimidation, hate speech, disinformation, physical assault, forced “protection”, blackmail, destruction of property, or assassination.

Similarly, Igbuzor (2010), sees electoral violence as: Any act of violence perpetuated in the course of political activities including, pre, during and post election periods, and may include any of the following acts: thuggery, use of force to disrupt political meetings or voting at polling stations, or the use of dangerous weapons to intimidate voters and other electoral process or to cause bodily harm or injury to any person connected with electoral processes.



Electoral Violence Prior to 1999

Electoral violence in Nigeria is traceable to the first republic especially during the 1964/65 elections. 

The dominant political parties in the first republic, namely; the Action Group (AG), the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC) were ethnically based parties that wanted to maintain the wide followership they enjoyed from the regions were they emerged.

AG was essentially the party for the Yoruba race, NCNC was regarded as Ibo party, while NPC was predominantly an Hausa/Fulani party.

During the 1964/65 elections, politicians were involved in wide scale murder, kidnapping and arson.

Also, there were gross irregularities in the conduct of the elections that precipitated the military to stage a coup that ended Nigeria’s first democratic experiment. 

Electoral violence reared its ugly head again during the highly controversial 1983 general elections. 

The elections were massively rigged for instance, in the then Oyo and Ondo states, the two Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) controlled states were declared for the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN). 

The announcement led to the outbreak of violence (Babarinsa, 2002). 

The scandalous 1983 elections caused general apathy among Nigerians. It was not surprising when the military intervened by ousting President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983.

Post 1999 Electoral Violence

The culture of impunity of electoral violence become alarming in the post 1999 era. In this era, electoral violence is undertaken through various ways: (Alemika 2011; Albert; 2007):

a. Prevention of  supporters of opponents to register or vote in elections

b. Prevention of opposition parties or individuals to campaign in areas where a political party or individual has its electoral strength

c. Intimidating and /or preventing supporters of a political opponent from voting

d. Scaring supporters of opponents from the polling centres to enable the party or candidate that is at advantage to stuff, snatch or switch ballot boxes

e. Politicians and their political parties using their thugs at the collation centres to intimidate officials to falsify results in their favour; scaring away oppositions so that ballot boxes containing vote from oppositions‟ stronghold may be destroyed and switching or exchanging of boxes containing genuine votes with ballot boxes containing papers, illegal thumb –printed by thugs and party supporters

f. Declaring results, during which those who lost and feel cheated may ignite violent protest resulting in affray, arson and murder

g. Competing for nomination during party primaries among politicians which might lead to violent confrontations between supporters of rival politicians and parties or assassination of opponents, and

h. Attempt by the ruling party to muzzle opposition and critics which it finds or consider intolerant.

Importance of PVC as a tool in actualising your electoral mandate

INEC lamented that there were over 20 million unclaimed voter’s cards in its offices nationwide. 

The maximum collection of voter’s cards and turnouts to vote on election day are crucial in determining the democratic outcomes of elections. Nigerian democracy is suffering from the double apathy of voter’s card collection and turnout to vote.

We must all participate actively in the electoral process and avoid statements like, ‘our votes do not count’. 

If votes don’t count, politicians won’t bribe or pay people to vote for them” Has the political revolution started here in Nigeria? That was the million-naira question that bogged the mind of yours truly a few months back. 

It was after the media got awash with news items of the rush for Permanent Voters Card (PVC) by thousands of eligible voters across the country. 

In fact, the recent demand by thousands of voters who besieged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices to register and collect their PVC got the top-notch of the electoral body alarmed.

One can therefore, understand the push by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 185 concerned Nigerians on INEC to extend the deadline beyond June 30, 2022. 

They had filed the lawsuit against INEC asking the court to “declare unconstitutional, illegal, and incompatible with international standards the failure of the electoral body to extend the deadline for voter registration to allow eligible Nigerians to exercise their rights.”

But beyond that, the rush must be all because many more Nigerians are getting to understand that: “Voting is the expression of our commitment to ourselves, one another, this country, and this world” as Sharon Salzberg, a New York Times bestselling author rightly noted. 

Given the gross failure of successive administrations, even under the democratic dispensation to meet the basic needs of Nigerians such as security, food security, stable electric power supply, sound and affordable education and healthcare delivery, millions of Nigerians are currently becoming aware that the choices they make during general elections would eventually define and determine their quality of life.

Indeed, many public affairs analysts have attributed this recent rush to the on-going massive sensitization by some notable musicians, movie-makers and other celebrities.

Others include philanthropists, civil society organizations (CSOs), the media and some politicians who understand the power of the people when it comes to the electoral process. Not left out are clergymen.

For instance, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has not only called on its members to get their PVCs but has urged the INEC to publish names of centres where voters who registered online can collect their PVCs ahead of next year’s election.

There are however, electoral offences prescribed by Nigerian Law as at 31st January, 2017.  

Anyone found to be in breach of any of these provisions is liable to being arrested and charged to court and prosecuted by INEC after investigation by the relevant security agencies. 

In spite of this assurance, many desperate Nigerian politicians are getting more devious by the day.

It means that come 2023, it is not all about eligible voters getting their PVCs but mustering the moral courage to say “No!” to all manner of inducements, be it money, food items, clothes or snacks. 

They should come to the full realization that as part of the principles of democracy, power belongs to the people and not the political elite. 

That is especially the crop of politicians who strongly but erroneously believe that with their Ill-gotten, filthy money they can buy anybody, including the voters.

These are conscienceless politicians who collect humongous sums from the Federation Account every blessed month but blatantly refuse to pay the hungry workers and pensioners their well-deserved dues. 

These are power-hungry politicians who turn deaf ears to the cries of members of ASUU and the undergraduates, who are agonizing over eight months strike, while their children study under the best of enabling environment in foreign lands.

Nigerian voters must this time around NOT sell their children’s future to their oppressors, masquerading as their saints and saviours. We have had enough of the king-slave mentality and enough of the masses suffering penury in the midst of our God-given abundant, natural resources. The voters should understand that: “The most important office, and the one which all of us can and should fill, is that of private citizen as ” Louis Brandeis canvassed.

In the wise words of Harry Emerson Fosdick: “Democracy is based upon the conviction there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.” We, the voters who are the ‘ordinary people’ should stand firm and understand that “Our political leaders will know our priorities only if we tell them, again and again, and if those priorities begin to show up in the polls” as Peggy Noonan counselled.

Go and collect your PVCs. INEC won’t bring them to you. Your vote is your power.

Thank you and God bless:

References

Albert, I.O. (2007). Reconceptualizing electoral violence in Nigeria, In I.O. Albert, D. Marco and V. Adetula (Eds). Perspectives on the 2003 Elections in Nigeria. Abuja: IDASA and Sterling-Holding Publishers.

Alemika, Etannibi EO 2011, Privatization of Secuity , Arms Proliferation and Electoral

Violence in Nigeria‟ in Lai Olurode and Attahi Jega(eds) Security Challenges of Election Management in Nigeria FES/INEC, Abuja.

Babarinsa, D. (2002). The house of war. Lagos. Tell Communication Publishers.

Fischer, J. (2010). “Electoral Conflict and Violence: A Strategy for Study and Prevention”. Washington, D.C: International Foundation for Election Systems

Igbuzor, O. (2010). Electoral violence in Nigeria. Asaba, Action Aid

Nigeria.

INEC’s website, Map of 2011 Presidential Election Map. See http://www.inecnigeria.org

Ogundiya, S.I. and Baba, T.K. (2005). Election Violence and the Prospects of Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria in Odofin & Omojuwa (eds) ops cit.