Amid ongoing public outrage that has greeted the brutal attacks launched against supporters of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos over the weekend, a high-ranking member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Waziri Bulama has come out to share his thoughts on the issue of electoral violence ahead of the presidential polls scheduled to hold in a fortnight.
Speaking during an interview on Africa Independent Television’s ‘Focus Nigeria’ program on Monday morning, Waziri, who is also a key member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, argued that not only were the attacks that took place in Lagos not an indication of potential electoral violence in the state but rather, more attention should be given to the ongoing killings by some armed groups in the southeast who have vowed to scuttle any attempt to conduct elections in the region.
“I wouldn’t say that these spats or clashes are election-related. This is a campaign period when thousands of supporters mobilize and come out to campaign for their candidates. If there are one or two clashes here and there, one does not need to be surprised. But the security agents are making adequate provisions to secure the elections. The attacks in Lagos are not election-related because they didn’t take place on Election Day. Yes, there may be isolated cases but I don’t think the situation is so much out of control for us to be worried about.
I even think the situation and killings in the Southeast should be of even greater concern than the few cases being mentioned in Lagos, or even in Rivers. I believe that attacks in those two states are not threats to the general elections, especially when compared to the southeast. You know that some terror groups are deliberately resisting the moves for elections to take place in that region. But this is not what is happening in other parts of the country. In places outside the southeast, we just have politicians who have resorted to self-help by hiring thugs and some supporters to prevent opponents from encroaching into their territory, but as I said earlier on, these are just isolated cases that cannot threaten the upcoming elections.”
You can watch Waziri Bulama’s interview here.
SOURCE: YouTube.
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