I am indeed delighted and honored to be associated with this National Colloquium on Election and Security Management with a focus on the upcoming electioneering campaigns and the General Elections of 2023. As attested to by many studies and analysis, election is a major trigger of violence in Africa today. The cream of critical stakeholders assembled here today to discuss initiatives and ways of reducing election-related violence is a testimony of the importance of the subject matter. In effect, as this Colloquium assembles key national stakeholders, it is important to analyze the root causes of electoral violence and to examine best practices towards preventing its occurrences and ensuring peaceful conduct of electioneering campaigns and the general elections in the State. Overall, objective of this gathering is to strengthen democratic institutions and structures that are considered critical to the enhancement of the integrity of the forthcoming 2023 general electoral process.
Participants Ladies and Gentlemen: The key reason for inviting you is simply to talk to each other and agree on how to manage the expected political competitions and some emerging conflicts along those lines in a peaceful way. It is also to discuss on how to provide all the required security support for the political players to play the game according to rules and decorum, especially as campaign activities are around the corner. This forum is indeed a necessity, as we all know that whenever we allow any part of the electoral processes to fail as a result of inaction, the election outcome can be a trigger for violence. And in that circumstance, it becomes so unfortunate as the electoral process which is supposed to be a peaceful way of selecting people’s representatives becomes a source of discord with long lasting effects. This is the reason why we are all here as critical stakeholders in the Sokoto State, in a roundtable engagement to address this matter and other multifaceted related root causes of political violence. Experience has shown that most often, violence results from:
1. Systematic, long standing and unresolved grievances either real or perceived, and a conviction that they cannot be resolved through the existing political order;
2. Contending parties determining that it is the last resort to attain victory desperately at the polls or settle scores.
As you are aware, the provision of Sec. 94(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 provided that electioneering campaigns by all political parties would officially commence on 28th September, 2022 for the Presidential and National Assembly and Governorship and House of Assembly commencing October 12, 2022. This means that the national political space will soon become active and the possibility of increase in politically related offences is there for all to see across the state. The Police, as the lead security agency in the election security processes, has the statutory obligation to ensure security, law and order, with the active support of the relevant security agencies.
It’s in this regard that the Inspector-General of Police IGP Usman Alkali Baba summoned all the Police Strategic Commanders across the Country to reaffirm the mandate and responsibilities of the Force during this period. It is in the same vein that the IGP directed all Commissioners of Police to liaise with the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners and the leaderships of all the political parties across the country to develop a mutually agreed campaigns timetable that will address possible conflicts in terms of date, time, and venue of their activities. It was accordingly emphasized that all security agencies, in the performance of this strategic responsibility, must be guided by the Electoral Act 2022, the Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement for Security Personnel on Electoral Duty which was issued in 2020 by the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
A Careful study of these election security instruments therefore grouped the mandate of the Police under four (4) key pillars as follows:
i. Ensuring the safety and security of all persons and properties that will be involved in the entire electoral process without bias;
ii. Strict enforcement of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Penal Code as well as the Electoral Laws without fear or favour;
iii. Security, traffic, and crowd management at venues of Political Party campaigns, rallies and other activities relating to the elections.
iv. The Security of the public space towards guaranteeing a crime-free and enabling environment for the political campaigns and other components of the electoral processes to thrive.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Let me be categorically clear on this note that the Nigeria Police Force in the performance of these roles will maintain an oath of neutrality in accordance with the Electoral Act. The Police will always keep the alertness during electoral security deployments, exhibit a high degree of professionalism and fairness in our dealings with all parties. All Security agencies are also expected to adopt a professional orientation that encompasses democratic values, respect for human rights and dignity, while being mindful of the duty imposed on us by the law to protect all electorates against illegal acts and dispense our duties without discrimination. This further explained what constitute one of the main concept of this gathering today, namely the peace agreement architecture.
The Peace agreement architecture is one of the inspirations and the first phase in electoral cycle and I believe all the stakeholders especially as we are part of this current gathering are part of the cycle. The second phase of the cycle generally begins with the start of the campaign period and end with the polling itself. Its success depends on all stakeholders, electoral commission, the judiciary, political parties, security agencies and the voters.
On this note, I congratulate the Electoral Commission for its successful actions thus far. And I want to encourage the Commission to further intensify its effort particularly in relation to the timely release of its Corporate Communications as well as other critical elements going forward. I urged the political parties too to constantly and publicly reaffirm their commitments to a fair process and to desist from attacks on personalities and focus on relevant issues. Primarily, the election campaigns should be seen as opportunity to debate issues and perspectives instead of trading words or dishing out hate speeches.
Similarly, let me reiterate the IGP’s directive emphasizing the fact that all quasi-security outfits established by various state governments and local communities operating under different nomenclatures, structures, and orientations have no legal roles under the Electoral Act and in the electoral process. The IGP has therefore directed all Police Managers at Strategic, operational and tactical levels to ensure they are not utilized by political or community actors for any role during the electioneering campaign and other electoral processes. As such their participation would amount to an illegality, a threat to national security, and inimical to the nation’s democratic interest.
At this point, I want to remind all political parties to resort to the legal justice channels in order to address any grievances as prescribed by the law. Equally, political parties and their candidates should not cease to publicly declare their firm commitment to abiding by the verdict of the polls. I know that the views I’m proffering here are shared by members of civil societies, religious leaders and traditional chiefs. It is their neutrality that allow them to act as a link between the politician and the society so that pursuit of political objectives does not create social or religious ruptures to the point of pitting groups against one another.
In order to accomplish this, political parties must know that they have a primary role in educating their supporters to promote peace, dialogue and consensus. The electoral commission, the judiciary and other institutions concerned must be strengthened in the accomplishment of their mission and in the neutrality of their task. I commend civil society, religious leaders and traditional institutions for their important roles in this national assignment.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Until now, I have held back on two last sensitive points; namely:
1. The unlawful acts of vigilante formations: This has to do with the employment of vigilante formations by some political parties to protect of their candidate and their assets. You will agree with me sometimes such private security organs engaged in a variety of unlawful acts and discredit the whole electoral process if no clear decision and measures are being taken.
2. The use of incendiary language in the Press. This relates to the abuse of airwaves and the complicity of some media houses to incite violence through their reportage.
Ladies and gentlemen from the media, in this period in particular, your actions are important as well as delicate. Your responsibility for the success of the entire process can not be underestimated. As you are keenly aware, whenever you publish information or make statement of facts, please be guided by your professionalism. You are the guardian of truth for the people and do not allow yourself to be manipulated by any other interest. In this crucial roles, be aware of the pernicious effects of promoting subversive declaration and counter declarations.
Of course the world knows that you are media professionals performing an important watch dog function. And as investigative journalists, you may bring to light sensitive issues triggering corrective actions by concern partners. I am convinced that the trust put in you by those gathered here today, as well as the entire international community, is well deserved. I want to reiterates calls to the political leaders to show restraints when communicating through the media while respecting the right to information and the important work of journalists.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my hope that you found some of the views and perspectives I presented here helpful to further identify ways to ensure peaceful conduct of electoral process.
Thank you very much for your kind attention
This was a speech delivered by CP Mohammed Usaini Gumel, FIPMA, psc during election and Security Management Colloquium on the Security-related of the upcoming electioneering campaigns and the General elections with all critical stakeholders in Sokoto State held on 27th September, 2022, Sokoto, Nigeria.
