Francesca Odimgbe
The Nigerian Human Rights Community, (NIHRCO) has applauded the intervention of Lagos state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for his steadfastness in providing conducive environment that necessitated peaceful elections in the state.
In a preliminary report released to the media in Lagos on Thursday, the group
noted that though the elections in Lagos was preceded by ethnic and religious baiting, this did not result into any major confrontation between the parties as residents of Lagos still came out to vote.
The NIHRCO, in the report presented by Taiwo Adeleye, senior programme officer of the group, observed that the Lagos State Government made concerted efforts to engage all the stakeholders in the state before the governorship election.
“We recoginse the impressive moral authority demonstrated by the State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his constructive engagements with communities, irrespective of religion or ethnicity, before the election where he sought fair and free election.
“This development contributed in no small measure to the peace and tranquility atmosphere that trailed the election in Lagos State.”
The report further showed that the election was the most peaceful election since 1999 in the post military era, adding that there was only the report of the death of one person linked to the voters but not to security operatives. While regretting the incident, Adeleye, stated that the death represents a remarkable decline compared with other previous elections in Lagos State.
On security, he observed that the security operatives, the police, Nigerian Security Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, conducted themselves in professional manners, adding, “They did not interfere with the election in any manner, that is to a very large extent. There were no intimidations by security officials, while voters’ harassment and bullying by security officials were absent. On security, the Lagos election meets global standards.”
In comparative sense, the group said voters expressed their will without armed intimidation or widespread violence in the units monitored and across the state compared with some other states of the Federation where armed invasion of polling units was recorded on a large scale.
” In the past, Lagos had witnessed armed intimidation ahead of elections, during and after elections mostly orchestrated by the Federal authority against the State which was in opposition for most parts between 1999 to 2019.” he said.
The report further said that officials of the Independent Electoral Commission, (INEC) deserve commendation for their actions throughout the conduct of the election.
According to Adeleye, “The INEC officials arrived early in many of the polling units. There were provisions for Bimodal Voters Accreditation System, BVAS in all the polling units across the 20 Local Government areas and the 37 Local Council Development Areas, (LCDAs) monitored.
“The BVAS has led to tremendous improvement in voting culture in Nigeria. It has reduced rigging. It has helped the democratic process to eliminate phantom voters, reduced the voting time per individual and eliminated the prospect of double voting.”
He said the group is preparing to share a comprehensive report of it’s observation to stakeholders including the media, members of the diplomatic community and local and international institutions.
The Strength of the Election
Adeleye again said the Nigerian Human Rights Community, (NIHRCO) recognises the strength of the election lay in the introduction of BVAS, the transmission of results from polling units, the prompt announcement of the election results, the environment devoid of violence, the impressive moral authority of the state government, the media and civil society.
On the other hand he noted that the campaign mostly by non state actors was characterized by ethnic and religious baiting.
“Some of the actors in this dangerous enterprise are people who live outside the country. The ethnic baiting was mostly between Igbo and Yoruba people. However, those responsible for the baiting are fringe elements. Majority of Igbo and Yoruba people in Lagos are more concerned with their livelihood and not interested in promoting violence and mayhem.”
