Expert: Why Nigeria witness post-election violence

A forum organized by the Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) a project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has said that post election violence in Nigeria will not stop until the people who are found guilty of electoral offences are punished in accordance with the law of the land.

The meeting which took place on Thursday  at the United Nations House in Abuja, drew  participants from the northern states, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigeria Guild of Editors; Nigerian Press Council (NPC), National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Security experts and non governmental organizations.

Chaired by Dr. Tom Adaba, one-time Director General of the NBC and now a consultant with the DGD/UNDP, the forum advised that traditional rulers and religious leaders should isolate themselves from partisan politics in order to uphold and sustain their respected positions.

In a six-point communiqué which was signed by Yiljab Abraham, the participants noted that  though the 2011 national assembly and presidential elections were far better than those conducted in the past, they noted that voter education was lacking and responsible for huge invalid votes.

“Post election violence erupted because perpetrators in the past were not punished and the winner-takes-all syndrome was largely responsible for post election violence,” the communiqué said.

It added that “the media performed creditably in enlightenment and coverage but need to play a very active role in the healing of election wounds. Security agents were friendlier and tried their best during the elections to maintain orderliness.”

The forum advised that security should be increased in polling stations and flash points nationwide for tomorrow’s governorship election and beyond, and that INEC should improve on the quality of ballot papers in future elections for easy identification of party symbols by voters.

“Nigerian politicians should see election as a process and co-operate with INEC to achieve best international practices in our electioneering and entrenchment of democracy,” the experts said.

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