Ballot snatching: How we changed security agencies’ orientation ― NHRC

THE Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Mr Anthony Ojukwu has stated that the commission had reduced the possibilities of security agencies aiding ballot boxes snatching by political thugs during the elections in Nigeria.

He made this known in Abuja at the Special Anti-Corruption Situation Room (ACSR) session of Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) in partnership with Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), National Orientation Agency (NOA), Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR), Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) and African Centre for Information and Media Literacy (AFRICMIL) with the support of Action Aid-SCRAPC and Mac Arthur Foundation.

According to him, “you will remember that in 1979, 1983 and those days, security men were the ones who carried ballot boxes, shouting and acting as if they were thugs, even assisting the politicians to rig elections but that has drastically reduced because they know now that there is an observer from NHRC and other civil society groups who monitor the elections.”

Mr Ojukwu said the action alone was satisfying because the consciousness has tamed the security agents and curtailed what the latter normally did during the elections.

NHRC boss said the same tactics might be used to discourage vote buying in 2019 general elections.

ALSO READ: Group faults Prof Jerry Gana’s membership of SDP

“We are now focusing on monitoring security, monitoring the security agencies who are at the elections, not necessarily Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) because everybody is monitoring INEC.

“But the NHRC has the mandate and power to monitor security personnel who are involved in elections and that for us has curtailed the excesses of security agents during the elections,” he believed.

Also speaking, the acting Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Abubakar, whose message was delivered by the Deputy Commissioner, Legal, Mr. Adelegan Sogunle, said the gathering was important as it would help to build a strong coalition of both civil society and public agencies towards strategizing on how to deal with menace of vote buying in Nigeria, especially in 2019 general elections.

He said the menace has taken worrisome dimension in electioneering space in the country, lamenting that the vote buying has been used to influence election outcome in the country.