Financial status of Rivers and Lagos has been attributed for the high rate of electoral violence in the states.
Both states are listed as the worst in violence during elections in the country.
The Executive Director of the organisation, Abiodun Baiyewu, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja during a national dialogue to demand accountability for documented 2023 election atrocities in Nigeria and the launch of a report titled, ‘In Pursuit of Justice: Forensic Insights into Nigeria’s 2023 election atrocities’.
Baiyewu said that the peculiarities of the two state, regarding wealth and financial resources made them prone to electoral offences.
She also blamed the non-sanctions of previous electoral offenders for the growing lists.
She said that since the nation’s independence, Nigeria’s election cycles have been very volatile and apart from brief moments of solidarity among citizens on their desire for credible elections, the no-holds barred contestations have made divisive rhetoric a recurring decimal.
“River State is the worst state when it comes to election violence in Nigeria, and the numbers speak for themselves, as is Lagos State.
“More recently, the entire South-east of the country. But then let us not forget what happened in the north in 2011.
“Our politicians continue to use words not to build us, not to unite us, but to divide us and we continue to allow them. Besides the stakes were higher in 2023, the crises precipitated by bad governance had resulted in further polarising the polity,” Baiyewu said.
Executive Director of We The People (WTP), Dr. Ken Henshaw, presenting the 53-page report, said the increase in access to new civic spaces, in particular, social media, founded on existing fault lines across the country leading to a spike in erosive discourse and the propagation of fake news.
He said that if Nigeria intends to break this endless cycle of violence and impunity, it would need to start with curating data and analysing them for accountability.
He said that the nation’s documentation of its electoral atrocities, beyond rigging and ballot snatching, has been poor.
“The documentation of election related crimes, including arson, vandalism, physical and verbal violence, hate speech, fake news, and killings, has hitherto been very poor and uncoordinated,” Henshaw said.
