Leading lawyer, MrFemi Falana, has disclosed that there are real threats to the conduct of next year’s general election, adding that it has been confirmed that elections cannot take place in over 40 local government areas in different parts of the country.

In a statement, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) catalogued the attacks on the facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other adverse situations to draw his conclusion.

He noted, “In the last four years, INEC has so far recorded 50 attacks on its facilities across 15 states. According to reliable data, Imo State has the highest number of attacks on INEC facilities with 11 incidents followed by Osun, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Ebonyi, Cross River, Abia, Anambra, Ta- raba, Borno, Ogun, Lagos, Bayelsa, Ondo and Kaduna states.

“In spite of the fact that the facilities are said to be well guarded, the criminal elements involved in the nefarious activities generally operate without any challenge from security forces. If the dangerous trend continues on a larger scale, INEC will not be a position to conduct elections in the affected areas.

“It is, therefore, curious to note that the few suspected arsonists have not been charged before any court.

“The state of insecurity in Nigeria has also constituted a serious threat to the conduct of credible elections It has been confirmed that elections cannot take place in over 40 local government areas in different parts of the country which are firmly in the control of various armed gangs, including bandits, terrorists, known and unknown gunmen. The territories seized by the criminal gangs are in Borno, Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto, Zamfara, Abia and Imo states.

“As the security of electoral officials and election materials cannot be guaranteed in the seized territories, the authorities of the armed forces should ensure that an enabling environ- ment exists for the conduct of elections in all the states of the federation. Otherwise, the elections may be postponed indefinitely in territories controlled by the armed gangs with serious implications for the 2023 general election.”

He also believed that the attacks are orchestrated, allegedly with official imprints, pointing at discomforting disclosures from state and non-state actors.

Quoting him, “Last week, INEC raised the alarm that some politicians have been buying up permanent voter cards (PVCs) and financially inducing unsuspecting voters to harvest their Voter Identification Numbers (VIN) ahead of the 2023 general election. Apart from the two suspects who were recently convicted for illegal possession of PVCs in Sokoto and Kano states, sponsors of the criminal enterprise have not been exposed by security forces.

“While condemning the illegal purchase of PVCs, the Director, Publicity and Advocacy of Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, disclosed that ‘thousands, or possibly even millions of northern voters, particularly women, are being made to surrender their PVCs for a pittance, in most instances not more than N2,000. In some instances, they are told their cards will be returned to them after they are processed for additional payments as poverty relief. No cards are returned.

“Our investigations suggest that this is an aggressive and blatant voter suppression attempt to reduce the voting power of the North.’

“On June 8, 2022 the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, approved the establishment of electoral offences desks at the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), Force Headquarters, Abuja, with the Commissioner of Police, FCID, as the desk officer. The IGP also approved establishment of the desks at state commands across the country, with assistant commissioners of police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Departments as state desk officers.

“A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said: ‘The mandate of the electoral offences desk officers includes the collation and investigation of all electoral offences/complaints from members of the public or any quarters, with a view to determining culpability in line with the amended Electoral Act 2022, and proffering charges before courts of competent jurisdiction for necessary legal action.’

“On November 18, 2022, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) alleged that some governors were using armed thugs and state security outfits to disrupt campaigns and other political activities. Mr Baba accused such governors show ‘traits of political intolerance’ which create political tension in the country.

“On December 4, 2022 the Director-General of the State Security Service, Mr Yusuf Bichi, warned political leaders to do away with usage of thugs when carrying out their activities and urged the youth not to make themselves willing tools for politicians.

“On December 11, 2022 the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Babagana Monguno (retd), warned state governors using thugs to prevent opposition parties from mounting campaign materials in their domains that security agencies would soon descend on them. Monguno said he was aware that in the last month, at least 52 cases of electoral violence across 22 states, including political- ly-motivated assassination of candidates had been reported.”

The senior lawyer argued that sanctions would have deterred the escalation, but none had been forthcoming. (Nigerian Tribune, except for rejigged headline)