The Say No Campaign has condemned the “signs and indications of the erosion of the impartiality” of Nigeria’s security forces.The group made this known while addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday.
“One of the most significant factors contributing to the credibility of any general election is the state of relative independence of not just the electoral umpire, in this case INEC, but also significantly of all other relevant state institutions, in particular the security and law enforcement agencies, as well as publicly funded media.
The group’s statement endorsed by Ezenwa Nwagwu,Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Jaye Gaskia and Samson Itodo, all conveners, said “We are worried by the growing popular discourse regarding the perception of the partiality of security and law enforcement agencies towards incumbent governments. Particularly worrisome are some of the utterances and actions of some of the security agencies that seem to be interpreted rightly or wrongly by a growing number of citizens as signs and indications of the erosion of the impartiality of these institutions.
“If this kind of behavior is allowed to continue to be displayed unchecked, and if popular perception of partiality continue to increase, this will have very significant impact on the level of citizen acceptance of the outcome of the general elections.
Addressing the recent primaries of political parties, the group said the recent actions reflect the African proverb which says ‘one can usually determine the nature of the next day, by the way the present day is unfolding’.
“We are alarmed by the still rampant nature of the breach of internal party democracy and the consequent crisis these incidences have and continue to generate within the parties in particular and within the polity in general.
“The most significant conclusion that can be drawn from all of these is that as a country, the fourth republic is still saddled with a democracy without democrats. And this is a challenge that all conscious and active citizens need to rise up to.
“The lack of separation of party structures from state structures, and the continued dominance of powerful Godfathers continue to constrict the space for active party membership which is the context within which internal party democracy can flourish and be nurtured.
On the topical issue of campaign funding,the Say No Campaign said it is “worried by the utterances and conducts of some of the political actors, candidates, the political parties, and party members speaking on behalf of the parties; just as we are worried about the utterances and conducts of some of the non-party member supporters and supporters groups of the parties and their candidates.
Unguided statements, deliberately inflammatory pronouncements, unsubstantiated allegations, and the use of hate speech, as well as the rampant and irresponsible issuing of threats against the whole nation are some of the trends that are of concern to us here.
Relatedly is the issue of the exclusive use by ruling parties of public funds and public institutions for the political campaigns in a manner that excludes or discriminates against opposition and smaller parties.
Additionally the way and manner by which campaign funds are raised continue to be worrying. Where the electoral campaign process, as well as the mode of raising campaign funds continuously violates the electoral laws and relevant provisions of the constitution, and where these seem to be taking place with impunity, the implication of this is that those elected into office through such processes will most likely continue to perpetrate and perpetuate breach of the constitution and violation of valid laws with impunity when they get into office.
Furthermore, we may as a people also find ourselves saddled with elected political office holders who are beholden to those who funded their campaigns, and who may have to deep their fingers into the commonwealth in order to be able to reward their funders.
Also,the group said “The recent PVC collection and CR processes organized by the electoral umpire, INEC, leaves room for concern and worry. To the extent that these processes were plagued by hitches, that are quite significant in some cases, the level of preparedness of INEC for the general elections is thus called into question.
“The performance of INEC, and the level of acceptance of that performance by the electorate is perhaps the single most important factor in determining the level of acceptance and thus credibility of the outcome of the general elections.
“This is why we are worried by some of the continuing indications of the ill-preparedness of INEC.
Say No Campaign also observed “that the level of insecurity in the country continues to deteriorate, and that some parties of the territory of our country are still being occupied or laid siege to by insurgents.
“Some of the most obvious and most serious consequence of the insecurity and the activities of insurgents have been the massive displacement of citizens.
“Now this scale of displacement has significant implications for the conduct of the elections. We are worried that up till now, less than six weeks to the general elections there seem to be no plans in place to ensure that Nigerian citizens displaced by the conflicts will be able to cast their votes and participate in the process of electing their leaders and government.
“We are concerned that just like the hitches in the PVC distribution, the displacement of significant segments of the population will contribute towards the disfranchisement of many Citizens and prevent them from being able to participate actively in the general elections”,the group said.
The group announced the launch of “ a nationwide campaign Against Electoral Impunity, and for Mandate Protection. This campaign will be kicked off with Four Rallies in Lagos, Enugu, Laffia and Kano on Tuesday 20th of January 2015. These rallies will be proceeded by town hall meetings, and will be followed by massive nationwide advocacy and media engagements to raise popular awareness among citizens, and prepare citizens to resist electoral fraud and violence, while standing firm to protect their votes and ensuing mandate”
