When 60-year-old Salome Abuh went to bed shortly before sunset in her home on November 18th, little did she know that for her political affiliation in the November 16th governorship election in Kogi state she would be burnt alive by alleged All Progressives Congress (APC) thugs.
Abuh, the women leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of Ochadamu Ward in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi state was killed in an alleged reprisal attack for the killing of an APC supporter in the community.
Abuh’s killing was barely 48 hours after the elections and its results were announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
When Olorunjuwon set out on November 16th, in Kogi state to protect the interest of his uncle, Dino Melaye, who is a candidate of the PDP in the Kogi West senatorial election, he had no idea he would be shot by alleged APC thugs and die a day after sustaining the injury.
Juwon, as he was fondly called by family and friends, was an orphan who lost his mother at birth. Juwon was shot at his uncle’s polling unit, Iluafor polling unit 004, Ayetoro 1 on election day and died on the morning of November 17th. Reports made the news of the attack at the polling unit, but no one could save Juwon from that bullet.
10 others like Abuh and Juwon lost their lives during the elections in the state as reported by the West African observer group, Center for Democracy and Development:
“… As early as 7 am, there were already reported shootings at Ayingba…our observer report from Kogi state recorded the death of 10 people in various shooting incidents and attacks across the state. The CDD, EAC nonpartisan observers including trained roving journalists reported over 79 critical incidents in the Kogi state off-cycle governorship election and the rerun senatorial election”
Ahead of the elections, several pre-election assessments had indicated that there was a likelihood of violence. To Nigeria’s embarrassment, even the US consulate had given a security alert in the state. However, these lives stood no chance as policemen reportedly fled when thugs invaded polling units on election day in the state. CDD reported that the security agencies “gave hoodlums free hand as they moved freely, carrying out their nefarious acts against voters”.
Unprintable pictures of a corpse of an alleged corp member in Kogi State and tales of the abduction of corp members who were the Independent Electoral Commission’s ad-hoc staff filled social media. Though the National Youth Service Corp has denied the killing of any of its members in Kogi and Bayelsa states, it was silent on the abductions.
Several lives were reportedly lost during campaign, days to the elections in Bayelsa State. CDD observers also reported over 50 critical incidents following sporadic gunfire on election day.
The last two elections in both states, particularly in Bayelsa, have been deadly. The effects were the killings and the displacement of over 3000 people, now taking refuge in Bassmabari, and the death of several people in the process.
INEC’S CULPABILITY
The powers conferred on INEC by Section 153 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended again came under intense scrutiny during the Kogi and Bayelsa elections, and I must say, they failed woefully.
A simple search on #KogiDecides2019 and #BayelsaDecides2019 is all the reasons the electoral umpire needed to know that the election it conducted in both states was a sham.
The cries of the people, the visual representation of violence that marred the process meant nothing to INEC. Observer groups shocked by the alarming situation called on the electoral umpire to cancel the election in Kogi state. Their recommendations however started and died in their report sheets.
YIAGA Africa reported that elections did not hold at 61 out of 250 sampled polling units. And therefore, potentially, 24% of all polling units in Bayelsa did not hold elections. Those electorates were prevented from exercising their franchise, not like it would have been allowed to count.
INEC ignored all evidence and pleas before them and returned the incumbent governor, Yahaya Bello and David Lyon as winners of the Kogiand Bayelsa elections respectively amidst tears and pains of the electorates.
Photo Credit: Okay.ng
A parallel voting tabulation adopted by YIAGA Africa finally confirmed INEC’s culpability when it revealed that INEC manipulated the results of the Bayelsa elections:
‘The official result as announced by INEC for APC and PDP are not consistent with the PVT estimate, suggesting that the collation process may have been manipulated. INEC announced that APC received 352,552 or 71% of the vote share, while the PVT estimated range is between 62% and 46 % meaning that the largest vote share APC could have received is 62% of the vote. Similarly, INEC announced that PDP received 143, 172 or 29% of the votes, while the PVT estimated range is between 52% and 37% meaning that the smallest vote share PDP could have received is 27% as against the result as announced’
From ignoring obvious violence to disenfranchising electorates and allegations of manipulation, the electoral umpire has placed itself at the centre of the sorry state that Nigeria has been reduced to.
ELECTORAL VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA
Sadly, lives lost to violence during elections in Nigeria dates back to the first republic. In the 1964/65 elections, politicians were involved in wide-scale murder, kidnapping, and arson, this precipitated the military to stage a coup that ended Nigeria’s first democratic experiment.
When one would have thought Nigerians learned a lesson, Electoral violence reared its ugly head again as results were declared for the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the 1983 general elections.
During the 2003 general elections, 100 people were killed in election-related violence but that could not be compared to the 2007 elections were 300 people were killed as reported by the United States Institute of Peace.
The peace organization stated that the worst election-related violence in recent times took place three days after the 2011 election, alarmingly, 800 lives were lost, 700 in Kaduna alone and more than 65,000 people were displaced.
Despite the Peace Accord and the visit by America’s Secretary of State, John Kerry to prevent tension during the 2015 general elections, at least 58 persons were killed before the elections as reported by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The European Union Election Observation Mission was specific when it reported that about 30 people were killed on April 11, 2015, the Election Day from inter-party clashes and attacks on election sites. A total of 106 persons were killed during the 2015 elections as INEC reported 66 reports of violent incidents across the country.
In 2019, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room reported that an estimated 626 persons were killed across Nigeria in the six months between the start of the general election campaign, in October 2018 and the commencement of the general and supplementary elections, which ended in March 2019. North-west region recorded the highest number of deaths with 172 killed, while the North-east followed with 146 fatalities. South-south and North-central had 120 and 111 fatalities respectively. Sixty-three people were killed in the South-west, while 14 were killed in the South-east.
The precedence set shows that victory and loss in Nigerian elections are determined by neither the people but by violence, and electoral offences. For years, money and guns have proved to be tested and trusted formulas deployed by stakeholders to reign supreme. INEC stood by and has watched while blood has been shed for political advantage.
The Kogi and Bayelsa Governors elect have collected their certificates of return and life is expected to go on as normal.
While others mourned, Governor Yahaya Bello stood bold to say:
“The conduct of the election was quite very credible, a level-playing field was provided and it was free and fair. In every election, there is bound to be one issue or the other and you can’t take a pocket of issues to judge the general conduct of the election.”
As the attention now shifts to the courts, is there really any chance that justice will be done and these sham elections cancelled or will the courts confirm the popular belief that they are an appendage of the APC and will do their bidding?
INEC should be rest assured that this dam will surely burst some day and consume us all including the INEC officials who rape and plunder our democracy. The blood of all those killed speaks volumes against INEC in the temple of God’s justice and the day of reckoning will surely come for all men.
God dey is our collective prayer. Amen
