The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has condemned the reported cases of electoral violence during Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chief Tony Ojukwu stated this at the weekend when giving the preliminary report on the election by the 2023 general elections human rights situation room as reported by the human rights monitors deployed to monitor the elections across the 36 states of the Federation.
According to Ojukwu, cases ranging from ballot box snatching, attacks on voters and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the shooting of a party agent by some individuals were recorded during the general election.
He said, there were reports that the voting process was challenging in some parts of the country due to the late arrival of INEC personnel and electoral materials.
Ojukwu also said, there were reports of voter suppression where attempts were made to intimidate voters and INEC officials in Rivers, Lagos, Kogi and Imo states.
According to the NHRC boss, the upsurge in the number of voters without adequate deployment of polling unit personnel resulted in the voting process being unduly prolonged and heightened vulnerabilities to electoral violence and malpractices.
He revealed that vote buying was reported by the human rights monitors in 42 locations across the country, especially in Lagos, Sokoto, Jigawa, Edo, Nasarawa and Kogi states, adding that, “Voters were offered money and other inducements to influence their votes.”
Ojukwu said there were cases of human rights violations attributed to security agents, including the use of force and extra-judicial killings.
The Chief Human Rights Officer called on INEC to ensure that Nigerians who were disenfranchised on the election day are able to vote in the rescheduled elections and the forthcoming gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections for transparency and integrity in the electoral process.
He urged Nigerians to remain calm, patriotic and loyal to the laws of the country and to avoid any act capable of causing violence and also charged politicians, traditional, religious leaders and citizens, to desist from hate speeches, incitement to violence and divisive rhetoric in this critical moment of the transition programme.
He warned that the Commission will not fail to invoke its protective mandate to hold any Nigerian, no matter his or her status in the society, accountable for any violence that erupts as a result of their speeches, incitements and reckless statements.
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