We can be victims of poll violence – Senators – TheNigerialawyer

The Leader of the Senate, Yahaya Abdullahi, has hinted that the
upper chamber of the National Assembly might come up with a bill
that will prescribe punishments for perpetrators of violence during
elections.

Abdullahi stated this on Tuesday while contributing to a motion
moved by Senator George Sekibo, on the violence that rocked the
governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states on November
16.

He warned that any politician, irrespective of his or her
political parties, could be a victim of violence during
elections.

The Senate majority leader said this as the United Nations
condemned the killings during the governorship election in Kogi
State.

Also on Tuesday, the House of Representatives said it would
investigate the violence during the governorship elections in Kogi
and Bayelsa states.

No fewer than six people were killed during the governorship
election in Kogi State. On November 18, a Peoples Democratic Party
women leader, Salome Abuha, was burnt to death when thugs set her
home at Ochadamu in the Ofu Local Area of the state on fire.

At the Senate plenary on Tuesday, Abdullahi said there was a
need for the two main political parties in the Senate to work
together and save the nation’s electoral process.

He said, “It is important if the Minority Leader and I can come
up with a bi-partisan bill to look at the punishments for electoral
violence.

“Let us see how we can raise a law to effectively tackle
electoral violence because electoral violence knows no
partisanship. All politicians on all sides are guilty.

“Electoral violence started from the beginning of our democratic
journey in 1999, but it’s getting worse by the day. There were
pockets of violence in other republics, but they were not as
terrible as what we have today. If we don’t curb this phenomenon,
it’s going to be dangerous for our country,” he added.

He admitted that the issue of electoral violence had been
happening since the beginning of the present republic in 1999.

We can become victims of electoral violence, Senator warns
colleagues

He said, “The spectre of violence and its attendant consequences
are some of the unhealthiest events in the country. I believe that
all politicians, irrespective of the various parties we belong to,
have a responsibility to address and to curb violence, otherwise we
will all become victims.

“So, there is a need for us to urge the security agencies to
really do their jobs. They should arrest and bring to book the
perpetrators of the dastardly act, who are known.”

The Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, lamented that
the security agencies had not successfully prosecuted the
perpetrators of electoral violence.

He said, “People have been known and seen to perpetuate violence
and nothing has been done to them. Once nothing is done to
somebody, once nobody pays the price for criminality of this
nature, it only creates further violence.

“The law enforcement agencies must be up to task. The husband of
the woman that was killed in Kogi State has identified those who
killed his wife but till today, nothing has been done to them.

“We have heard all manner of excuses and there is now a pattern.
If you don’t curb it through the use of enforcement, you will only
see that pattern continue to grow.”

The senate consequently, condemned the spate of election-related
violence in the country.

Senate observes a minute silence for
victims

It observed a minute silence for all those who lost their lives
in the violence during the governorship polls in Bayelsa and Kogi
states.

The upper chamber also urged the National Orientation Agency and
the Independent National Electoral Commission, to carry out a
detailed campaign against electoral violence in subsequent
elections.

The Senate also urged the security agencies to expeditiously
apprehend perpetrators of electoral violence in all the areas where
they occurred and bring them to book.

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, stressed the need for
the immediate arrest of the perpetrators of electoral violence in
Bayelsa and Kogi states.

He said, “No party is free from this blame, and it is for us as
politicians to continue to enlighten our people to face politics as
a game of ideas. I believe that those who perpetrated violence,
especially in the last elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states, should
be apprehended and prosecuted. I believe that this is the way to
go; people should pay the price of their actions.”

Sekibo had in his lead debate, noted that armed thuggery has
increased more in 2019 compared to previous elections.

He said privileged politicians used either armed thugs or
security agents to disrupt smooth electioneering.

Sekibo noted that the effect of mayhem would reduce the
credibility of electoral process and deepen hatred as well as widen
the gap of our unity, if not checked.

He said, “The country’s electoral management body is not strong
enough to withstand the pressure exerted by the political system.
The electoral misconduct that accompanies it continue to threaten
the deepening of democratization process.

“This negative effect of electoral violence in the country would
continue to reduce the citizens’ confidence in the democratic
process as well as heighten the fears of possible democratic
collapse,” he added.