Intimidation Of Voters

There are worrying signals from Nigeria’s commercial capital,  Lagos, ahead of the general elections coming up in a matter of days. And it is do with the rights of residents to freely exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of choice of who to support in the forthcoming polls.

The first sign of this intimidation of opposition party supporters occurred last year when hoodlums tried to burn alive two youngmen in Lagos for simply wearing the logo of the Labour Party. It took the intervention of a passing soldier to stop the immolation from taking place. The victims, however, went away with severe beating.

Also last week when Labour Party held the grand finale of its presidential campaign in Lagos, seversl supporters of the party were similarly attacked with machetes and cudgels at different areas of Lagos, leaving them with serious and life-threatening injuries.

While the above intolerance of differing political standpoints can be grasped in the context of mob action by political thugs, the latest of  such behaviour coming from unexpected quarters – the traditional institution – is a serious cause of concern.

A few days ago, the traditional ruler of Igbara community in Etiosa local government area of Lagos, the Baale of Igbarra,  was heard threatening his subjects to vote in a certain way or they will face sanctions.

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In an 11-minute audio recording  that has gone viral of a meeting held by some persons in the company of the traditional ruler, he and another person believed to a local government official were heard telling the residents of the area that they must vote for the  ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state or risk sanctions.

Part of the  threatening statement, which has not been denied by the stated traditional ruler, reads:

“We are ready to fight; yes, I am not hiding it; I have narrated everything to you. In Nigeria, there is Lagos; in Lagos, there is Eti-Osa; within Eti-Osa, we have Igbara community and by the grace of God in Igbara today, we can take our decision.

“The people that will be friends with us, that will continue to do business with us are those with their PVCs and are willing to vote for our party, APC. Nothing short of that.

“You want to vote for PDP or Labour Party? Not here! Elections have been coming and going, we have never done this before, we are doing this based on instructions,” he told the residents.

First and foremost, all these attacks by hoodlums on innocent Nigerians expressing their political choices are, to say the least, unfortunate, untenable and unacceptable. Every eligible Nigerian has the inalienable right of freedom of association and of expression of political choice. Nobody can deny them that right. The government must provide an enabling environment for the exercise of this right.

As a newspaper, we recall that this is not the first time a member of the traditional institution would try to intimidate opposition voters in Lagos. In the run-up to the last general election in 2019, the Oba Akiolu of Lagos, was reported to have told people from other parts of Nigeria that if they dared to vote against the APC in the state, they would be driven into the lagoon to perish -or something like that. And as if egged on by this threat, Nigerians who turned out to vote on election day in areas dominated by residents in the city who hail from other parts of Nigerians were attacked  with dangerous weapons by thugs while queuing to vote, and few lost their lives  in the process. To this day, there is no indication that anybody was arrested and punished for these criminal acts.

It is heartwarming that the Lagos State Police Command has indicated its intention to invite the identified traditional ruler for questioning following public outcry. This is a good move that can help to ward off further intimidation of voters in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria. He said he was acting on instruction. He should be made to disclose the authorities that had mandated him to intimidate his subjects from exercising their rights. He should also be made to broadcast to the same residents that they are free to vote according to their conscience as provided by law.

The police should also investigate and ascertain whether other residents of Lagos, as well as other parts of Nigeria, are being similarly threatened, and reverse such illegality in order to avert the possible breakdown of law and order in otherwise peaceful communities.

We also note that these recent happenings are contrary to the peace agreement signed  by all the presidential candidates and their parties in which they committed to peaceful, free, fair  and issues-based electioneering midwifed by the Abdulsalami-led National Peace Committee.  In the spirit of the above agreement, the indicted political party, the APC, and its presidential candidate and party leadership should release public statements distancing themselves from the activities of hoodlums and the Baale of Igbarra, and as well telling residents of Lagos to  feel free to vote in the general election without any fear of molestation. That will go along to promoting peaceful polls in Lagos and elsewhere.

Finally, we wish to reiterate that a key aspect of democracy is the freedom to confer leadership authority on persons; there ought to be no force. Any mandate obtained by coercion is tyranny.