On January 14, presidential candidates all participating political parties in the February 14 presidential election gathered in Abuja to sign an accord on violence-free polls. But developments after the accord and call by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki for postponement of the elections, add to the rising tensions ahead the polls, writes Head, News Desk, VICTOR EBIMOMI
There are profound fears among Nigerians that next month’s general elections are at grave risks. Certain trends, incidentally create room for these apprehensions. Aside incidences of unprincipled campaigns by the political parties and instances of violence by their supporters which raise concern on the polls being free and fair after all, there have been insinuations of the government plotting an agenda to stall or shift the elections.
On occasions when this allegation had been raised in the past, senior officials of the government had put a lie to it, arguing that the polls would hold on February 14 and 28, as scheduled.
But the statement by the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, in London, Thursday last week, seeking for postponement of the elections, has added weight to the suspicion on the government acting out a script.
Dasuki, had explained his call on the need for the distribution of permanent voter cards (PVCs), arguing that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), needed more time to ensure all qualified Nigerians receive cards for the vote.
He claimed to have told INEC chairman Professor Attahiru Jega, that a postponement within the three months allowed by the Electoral Act would be a good idea, stressing that the Commission had distributed 30 million cards in 2014, with another 30 million left.
“It costs you nothing, it’s still within the law,” Dasuki said he had told the INEC chairman.
But the statement has attracted criticisms from informed Nigerians who see it as being capable of drawing the nation backwards.
Dr. Jamiu Oluwatoki, Senior Lecturer, Department of History and International Relations and former Chairman Academic Staff Union of Universities, Lagos State University (LASU), for example, kicked against the proposal, stressing that it will not do the country any good. “Though I have not got mine, postponement of the elections will have gross implications most of which will not portend well for Nigeria. Let’s go on with the election, which is a lesser evil and improve on the card issue subsequently”, he told our reporter.
Politicians of the opposition political parties, on their own, accuse the NSA of speaking the mind of President Goodluck Jonathan and by extension, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
All Progressive Congress (APC) particularly rejected the proposal, accusing Dasuki of echoing the mind of the Jonathan administration which it said was on the verge of being defeated, and required more time to prepare.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, stressed that under no circumstance must the elections be scuttled. Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, also argued in similar respect.
INEC, in apparent reaction to the call for postponement has reiterated its commitment to the conduct of general elections as scheduled.
Jega who spoke on the matter, had maintained that while he would not respond to media reports of Dasuki’s call, he could confirm that INEC is determined to hold elections in February.
“We have assured that the issue of concern, namely distribution of PVCs, will be addressed before elections; and the cards will be made for all registered voters. As evidenced in our preparations, we are ready to hold elections in February,” said the INEC Chairman.
The assurance, ordinarily should lay the matter to rest. But given the allegation by critics that the Commission had on occasions in the past, not matched its words with actions, the fear of the elections being scuttled, continues to loom large. It had for instance, at a time, assured that it would insist on the parties and politicians playing according to the rules. But even when there had been instances of the players going against the prescriptions, INEC had appeared helpless.
The obvious lethargy by the electoral umpire and rising incidences of violence and toxic campaigns, have thus, placed huge question marks on the credibility of the election beforehand. This is despite the occasional pledge by principal officers of the parties to maintain the peace.
On Wednesday January 14, 2015, President Jonathan, presidential candidate of PDP, General Muhammadu Buhari of APC and 12 other presidential candidates signed accord for violence-free polls as the elections kick off on February 14.
The pact among others, emphasised the need for free, fair and credible polls as well as the imperative of issue-based campaigns.
Known as “Abuja Accord” by the organisers of the event, the pact barred the contestants from making inciting speeches in whatever guise that could lead to violence before, during and after the elections.
The event took place at a sensitisation workshop themed: “2015 General Elections: Sensitization workshop on Non-Violence”.
At the event, which was witnessed by eminent personalities including Kofi Annan, a former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Emeka Anyaoku, a former Secretary General of Commonwealth, Jonathan and Buhari astounded the audience as they appeared to have cast aside their bitter rivalry and embraced to the admiration of all.
The chairmen of the two dominant parties, Adamu Mu’ azu of PDP and John Odigie-Oyegun of APC also hugged one another. The exercise was in a bid to send clear message to their supporters that the election needed not be violent if democracy must endure.
Road to the accord
Prior to the signing of the pact, the political space was virtually getting charged with incidences of derogatory and inflammatory campaigns from both Jonathan and Buhari camps.
At a point, in fact, governor of Kano state, Rabiu Kwankwaso, an APC chieftain, was alleged to have hit hard at Jonathan, describing him as an ‘incompetent commander-in-chief.’
But in a swift reaction, the PDP National Secretary, Wale Oladipo, retaliated with what could be likened to a bombshell, describing the Buhari, as a ‘semi-literate jackboot’.
A day before the Lagos rally of the PDP on January 8, 2015, the Director of Media and Publicity for Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, raised the bar by pronouncing Buhari as representing darkness while Jonathan typifies light.
The tempo of the vitriolic campaign that started immediately after the PDP and APC conducted their national conventions on December 8 and 10, 2014 respectively which produced Jonathan and Buhari as the presidential candidates of the two dominant parties, has since continued to rise.
And as the electioneering proper kicked off, the trajectory of the acerbic campaigns took a dreadful direction.
The two rival parties, started firing from every cylinder in a bid to demonise each other before the electorate. The tension generated by the volatile electioneering cuts across all the nooks and crannies of the country. As a result of the ugly trend, it was reported that drivers even shunned Jonathan campaign vehicles in Kaduna for fear of being attacked by the supporters of APC, though it was denied by a PDP chieftain in the state. It was equally alleged that during a PDP governorship rally in Rivers State, gun shots suspected to have come from the opposition rented the air in what the PDP described as an attempt to scare its followers just as APC alleged attacks on one of its council secretariats by people suspected to be supporters of PDP.
In fact, for weeks it looked like the era of ‘do or do’ had returned and potentially pushing the country to the precipice, a development that must have propelled the organisers of ‘Abuja Accord’ to act fast.
Accord broken?
Few days after the accord, there appeared to be limited verbal fireworks; in fact, not punchy enough to hurt much. But the assumed understanding appeared to have irretrievably broken down on Monday January 19.
That day, Monday, January 19, Ekiti State governor and PDP chieftain, Ayo Fayose, rolled out a scathing front-page advert where he insinuated that Buhari would die in office if he wins the election. To buttress his point he displayed the portraits of some former leaders who had died while in office and declared that the country could not afford another state burial in Buhari. The advert generated a lot of furore in the political sphere with many political observers saying the advert crossed the line of political engagement.
APC Reacts
APC did not take the Ekiti governor’s obviously misguided outing lightly as it accused President Jonathan of violating the letters of the accord stressing that but for caution on the part of the party, there could have been political inferno.
‹›But for our party›s ceaseless enlightenment of our members and supporters to shun violence of any kind even when provoked, and the peaceful disposition of the APC as a party, one can only imagine what could have happened in the wake of this demonic advert, laced with ethnic put down and a morally-repugnant death wish for a fellow being,’’ the party said in a statement issued the following day Tuesday 20, by its National Publicity Secretary.
It reached out to those who organised or witnessed the signing of the accord to call the president and the PDP to order, just as it advised Nigerians and the security agencies to take note of the development.
‹›We are therefore calling on all those who witnessed the signing of the pact, especially former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku, to take note of this very serious breach of the agreement and urgently call President Jonathan and his party to order.
‘’We are also calling on all Nigerians, as well as security agencies, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) to take note of the political desperation of the PDP and its supporters, while warning that we will hold President Jonathan and his party responsible if anything untoward should happen to the APC Presidential Candidate,’’ it said
The party added that the provocative advert was not the first time that the President and his supporters had broken the Abuja Peace Accord.
‹›Two days after the pact was signed, our party›s office at Ngo community in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers was bombed, the second of such incident in the state, by PDP thugs. Then our party members were attacked severally in Sokoto by PDP thugs aided and abetted by the police, while the PDP Governor of Kaduna State, Mukhtar Yero, has been inciting violence against the opposition in his state.’’ it said.
APC also alleged that the perpetrators of those incidents got away with their actions without any censure from the President and that emboldened another die-hard supporter of the President to throw caution to the wind and embark on a course of action that has now exposed, for the world to see, the level of desperation by the President and his party ahead of next month›s polls.
‘’Never in the history of our nation has there been a more egregious act of desperation by a politician who would wish death to his opponent, with the action aided and abetted by otherwise respectable media organizations that chose to put financial consideration over professional ethics, morality and even national unity,’’ APC said.
It added that despite the claim by President Jonathan, that his political ambition is not worth the blood of anyone, he could have had the blood of many Nigerians on his hands had the APC supporters not been peaceful and cool in the face of this egregious act of provocation.
PDP fires back
But Fani-Kayode, countered same day saying the advert should not in any way be associated with the party, stressing that that it represented the personal opinion of Fayose, who he described as a respected member of the party.
“Governor Ayo Fayose is a distinguish leader of our party, a democratically elected governor and someone we have immense respect and affection for and he released this advert in his own name. That represents his own personal opinion which he is entitled to”, he said.
Enter APCPCO
The reaction by PDP, despite assurances of respect to Buhari, was not enough to assuage the bitter feelings in the opposition. Last week, APC Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) jumped into the fray with a strong-worded petition to the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba over the Fayose advert that it considered morbid.
In the petition signed by the Director General of the Campaign and Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, the Organisation condemned PDP and Fayose for portraying its candidate, General Buhari as a dead man walking to scare Nigerians from voting for him in the February 14 election.
According to the petition, the portrayal of Buhari as being likely to die in office just like past northern leaders such as Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, General Sani Abacha and General Murtala Mohammed was “morbid and reckless” and that such irresponsible political advert is not only “in bad taste, but also capable of undermining law and order in the country.”
It added that insinuating death for a man who is still alive based on unscientific logic or prediction is capable of causing a breach of the peace across the country.
A seeming revenge
But in what appeared a revenge mission, Jonathan campaign train was said to have been stoned in Katsina state by youths who are alleged to be supporters and sympathizers of APC. Buhari is from Katsina; so also Jonathan’s predecessor, the late President Umar Musa Yar’adua, one of the portraits of dead presidents used in the ‘death- wish advert’.
And in manner that portrayed ominous cloud hanging in the air, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has vowed to retaliate the attack.
The spokesman of the IYC, Eric Omare in a statement issued in Yenagoa lamented that when
Buhari visited Bayelsa to campaign, the group mobilized its members to ensure nothing untoward happen to him.
“We call on supporters of President Jonathan all over the nation to be ready to defend any attack on them by General Buhari’s supporters. The experience of 2011 where several supporters of President Jonathan were killed without provocation must not be allowed to repeat itself. General Buhari is preparing the ground for the fulfillment of his promise that the blood of the baboons and monkeys would flow in anticipation of his impending defeat in the February 14, 2015 Presidential election”, the statement read.
And from all indications it appeared a bloody battle may be ahead at least judging from the pockets of incidents unfolding in all parts of the country.
Even in Lagos, which is regarded as a politically stable state, there have tensions all along. Allegations of defacing or vandalism of posters of rival candidates by politicians and their followers, have for instance, been rife in the state. In the past few days also, there have been reported cases of fracas between PDP and APC supporters leading to destruction of properties.
For instance, on Thursday January 21, an APC member was said to have been gunned down by alleged PDP supporter of House of Representatives candidate while another is critically ill.
The ugly trend replicates in some states in the country, raising concern among Nigerians on what happens after February 14 and 28, when the national and state elections must have taken place.
