Professional Documents
Culture Documents
FOR PREVENTION OF
ELECTORAL VIOLENCE
By
Violence has become part of the political culture in Nigeria such that all elections
since independence (Nigeria has conducted six general elections since
independence in 1960.
The elections were held in 1964, 1979, 1983, 1993, 1999, 2003 and 2007) are
virtually violence ridden. All of these elections were substantially marred by
various types of electoral violence or violence associated with party politics and
conduct of elections.
Thus, one of the major challenges of managing the electoral systems in Nigeria is
how to prevent pre, during and post election violence. The success or failure of
any election depends on the stakeholders performing their duties (INEC, Political
Parties, Election Observers, Judiciary, Media and Security Agencies).
DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS
Election; An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population
chooses an individual to hold public office (wikipedia 2010) Elections are generally
conceived as a means of peaceful change of leadership in societies. It is defined as
a "process of actualising representative democracy and it exposes people to the
experiences of competition for power through balloting" Elections are the
acceptable means of effecting changes in government in contemporary
democracies. An election is “an organized event at which somebody is chosen by
vote for something, especially a public office.
Types of elections
In most democratic political systems, there are a range of different types of
election, corresponding to different layers of public governance or geographical
jurisdiction. Some common types of election are:
General election
Primary election
By-election
referendum
Electoral systems
Electoral systems are the detailed constitutional arrangements and voting
systems that convert the vote into political decision.
Violence
Violence is defined as "an act against an individual or group, with the intent to
cause injury or death" Violence: is any act which causes or may cause any person
physical, psychological, emotional, sexual, verbal or economic harm, whether this
occurs in private or public life, in peace time or in conflict situation. Otite 1990,
explains that "violence and conflict arise from the pursuit of varying interests,
goals and aspirations by individuals, and or groups. He also explains that violence
is a fact of life, especially in plural societies like Nigeria and it could effect positive
change"
ELECTORAL VIOLENCE:
Dennis (1996.) defined Electoral violence as any act of violence perpetuated in the
course of political activities, including pre, during and post election periods, and
may include any of the following acts: use of force to disrupt political meetings or
voting at polling stations, or the use of dangerous weapons to intimidate voters
and other electoral process or to cause bodily harm or injury to any person
connected with electoral processes.
In general terms, all forms of violence that emanate, at any stage, from
differences in views, opinions and practices during the process of elections, could
be regarded as electoral violence. Electoral violence is the employment of force
by political parties or their supporters to intimidate opponents and threats to a
democratic regime, and has often accounted for seizures of political power by the
use of undemocratic means, such as force"
Weak Penalties. The criminal or penal code of a nation spells out crimes and the
penalties or punishment for violators of the code. Penalties or punishment are
intended to achieve correction, retribution and deterrence. In Nigeria, there are
no specific legislations against certain electoral offences, only for associated acts
like arson, assault and murder. The laws for example, have no provision for the
snatching of electoral boxes from polling booths (a common crime during
elections). Moreover, the penalties for acts associated with electoral violence like
assault and arson, are generally weak; a few years imprisonment at most This has
contributed to the culture of impunity and underscores the need to review the
extant laws.
Weak Governance and Corruption. Weak governance and corruption are some of
the causes of structural violence (Galtung, 1969) in Nigeria, the effects of poverty
make people desperate enough to seek any means including crime and violence
just to survive. This situation seemed to have created a ‘runaway norm ‘of
‘tolerating corruption’ at all levels of government. Corruption is closely entwined
with political violence in Nigeria. Public revenues are not only stolen, but are
often used to pay for the services and weapons used for electoral violence.
Amongst others, lack of accountability and dearth of social security could be
adduced for the level of corruption. The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) set up to fight corruption have achieved some success but
more need to be done especially as regards former corrupt top political office
holders
Pre-Election Period: During the period proceeding elections the Police is usually
involved in the following activities:-
Screening And Clearing of Political Aspirants: The Police also has a vital role to
play in the successful screening and clearance of political office aspirants, through
furnishing the Electoral Commissioners with available confidential information or
records to assist determine correctly the eligibility of prospective candidates;
Party Congresses and Conventions: One of the major activities of political parties
is the organisation of party congresses and conventions during which party
executive members for various levels are elected to oversee the activities of such
parties. The parties are saddled with the responsibility of ensuring adequate
security coverage to enhance peaceful conduct of such congresses and
conventions. There is no disputing the fact that most of the congresses held
before the elections times by the political parties would have been disrupted by
aggressive and violent party members and their supporters if not for the heavy
security presence on the grounds.
Election Day:
Conduct of the Elections: whenever any major election is holding, Police
collaborates closely with INEC to ensure security of electoral materials, the
officials and peaceful conduct of such elections at all centres including the
collation of results. On such occasions too, enhanced security arrangement is
usually made for INEC officers, and the headquarters of the parties. Security
agents also provide escort for polling officials conveying final election results to
the headquarters of the Electoral Commission.
Post-Election Period
Election Tribunals: The Rule of law is a major ingredient of democracy.
Consequently, election tribunals are always established to hear petitions arising
from the conduct and result of election. Because of the sensitive nature of such
cases and their attracting huge crowd of party supporters to the court, adequate
security arrangement is normally made to ensure that the job of the tribunal is
undisturbed. Police personnel who are vital witnesses in such cases are also made
available to assist the court in promptly determining the petitions. Police also
function in the arrest and prosecution of persons accused of involvement in 11
election offences, thereby helping to facilitate effective administration of justice
and sanitizing the electoral systems.
Post -Election Crises: It is a known fact that our country witnesses some post
election crises in the past particularly during the elections of 1964, 1983 and
1993. These crises have always been traced to such reasons as the inability of the
parties and their members to gracefully accept defeat; for obvious malpractice
during the conduct of the elections; lack of respect for the Rule of law and
outright desire to cling to power by all means. It has therefore been the onerous
responsibilities of the Police to handle such delicate crises in such a manner to
ensure that the internal security and corporate existence of the nation are not
threatened.
TIIHANA BLNC MODEL 1992 on the Indian example. This model requires
vulnerability maps where areas that have history of violence are identified and
security forces are deployed in these areas; phased election schedule if adequate
security forces are not available; intensive observation by independent observers
so that each polling station is covered at least once on the polling day; automatic
re-poll if violence occurs and rule of law enforcement weeks ahead of the polls by
organizing Flag Marches, rounding up criminals and executing arrest warrants.
Election Violence Education and Resolution (EVER) method (2004) which records
incidents of electoral violence throughout electoral process. These incidents are
broken down into specific components such as motives, victims, perpetrators,
responses and impacts of violence. After thorough analysis, patterns are
established and findings are presented to electoral commissions, government
agencies, security forces and other relevant stakeholders, who are thought to
craft responses that will ultimately prevent or mitigate further electoral violence.
Part of the methodology is also connected to monitoring and reporting on the
responses. The EVER methodology was applied in several cases such as Guyana
(2006), Ghana (2004).
Recommendation
In order to stamp out electoral violence in Nigeria the following measures should
be taken:-
i. Use of National Identity Card:- The use of identity cards to vote as is
done in advanced countries like USA would allow for proper registration
of voters and prevent multiple voting thereby eliminating the attendant
contentions about multiple voters and underage voting.
ii. Mass Education:- The Agencies of government charged with mass
education should rise up to their duties. A properly educated and in
formed public will not only see the ills of political violence and refrain
from it, but will also help Nigerians take the right political postures
about issues and policies.
iii. Need for Electoral Law Reforms: It has been observed that the
punishment for electoral violence and offences are too weak to deter
would be offenders. It is therefore recommended that sponsors of
political violence and their agents should face heavy fines or long jail
terms on conviction.
iv. Citizens Participation in Politics: It is unfortunate that most Nigerians
view politics as the business of few in political power and the few in
power see them selves as Lords and not servants. Citizens should be
educated to feel they have a stake in governance and measures should
be put in place to make elected officers accountable and more
responsive.
v. Good Governance: Political stability and peace is a function of good
governance it implies high level of organisational efficiency in relation to
policy formulation and implementation. It entails accountability,
transparency, participation and maintenance of rule of law.
vi. Establishment of Constitutional Court: To avoid the diverse and
indiscriminate interpretation of laws relating to elections and the
indiscriminate issuance of injunctions and ex-parte motion, it is
recommended that a Constitutional Courts should be put in place to
interpret and handle election and Constitutional matters. This, it is
believed will curtail some excesses that in many instances generated
electoral violence.
Conclusion
As several experts point out, any programme designed to prevent electoral
violence would benefit substantially from targeting the entire electoral cycle. It is
rarely if ever sufficient to introduce a variety of measures shortly before the
Election Day. Although electoral violence is not condoned by any of the
practitioners.
It is my belief that with the implementation of the measures outlined above, and
the appropriate funding and equipping of our security outfits, the nation will
experience less of politically motivated violence
Reference
Dorcas Ettang (2011): The impact of electoral violence on ongoing peace
processes in Nigeria