Election violence and the fragilities of Nigeria’s democracy

BY WEALTH DICKSON OMINABO

Since 1999, every election cycle has taken a toll on Nigeria’s security, peace, and stability. The nation is constantly put under a political weather of uncertainty and a climate of violence and fear.

The road to the 2023 election is not different. Violence has been the sallow mark dotting the nation’s political map. On and off campaign grounds, hate is preached as a sermon, while violence is unleashed as a strategy by different political actors.

There are many media reports on the cases of political violence in Nigeria; they are stories of death, thuggery, desperation, and extremism perpetuated by political actors and their supporters against their fellow citizens. Sad tales of the destruction of government facilities and properties by non-state actors are a recurring narrative in most of the nation’s tabloids. About 50 of the Independent National Election Commission’s offices have already been destroyed since Nigeria’s last election in 2019.

The National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, Babagana Monguno, during a recent meeting of the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), in Abuja, stated that Nigeria recorded 52 acts of political violence across 22 states between 8 October and 9 November this year.

The Inspector General of Police, Baba Alkali, in a meeting with political actors in Abuja, reiterated the point that violence is the most dangerous threat to Nigeria’s democracy. According to Alkali, political violence in Nigeria is perpetuated in three ways: violence targeted at the personnel and assets of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), violence that manifests in the form of inter-party intolerance, and thirdly political violence which relates to the conduct of some State Governors who manifest traits of political intolerance which often inflame political tension.

The trend of violence ahead of the 2023 election is regrettable; it lays waste to the gains of democracy, trivialises democracy as a mere contest of might and power, and undermines the ultimate goal of democracy.

Peace and justice are the hallmarks of democracy. It defeats logic when politicians resort to violence as means to power. The primary objective of democracy is to sustain the liberty of citizens and pursue peace through civil means. Civic activities like elections are peace initiatives instituted to shore up a country’s sovereignty and sustain citizens’ fate on the country’s values.

The recurrence of violence at every election cycle in Nigeria exposes the primitivity of our political culture and also explains the fragility of our political system. Politicians at all levels see violence as a superior tactic for obtaining political power. Special appointments, political contracts, and directives are given to different actors to enforce violence throughout the electioneering process. The scenes of destruction and thuggery witnessed during political activities are not happenstance, but deliberate actions planned and executed by politicians and their supporters for political gains.

Sadly, institutions that are saddled with defending democracy are either too weak that they cannot perform their legitimate responsibilities or have been captured by political actors that they are compelled to compromise the nation’s democracy. Here lies the major challenge to Nigeria’s democracy.

Weak institutions are one the reasons why democracy is failing; the weakness of these institutions has made it easy for politicians and other interest groups to capture vital arms and institutions of government, thereby impeding the progress and the outcome of democracy. The judiciary, security operatives, and sometimes staff of the election management body fall under the captivity of political interest groups. This tragedy in our democracy attests to the fragility of our nation’s democracy and emphasizes the need for strengthening state institutions at all levels of government.

The ongoing trend of violence constitutes a threat to the success of the 2023 elections. Violence is a means of voter suppression, and as long as people don’t see themselves as safe, they will likely not come out to vote for their desired candidate. Elections won through violence, and other authoritarian undermines the representative nature of democracy.

Election violence in Nigeria is sustained by an atavistic political culture that lacks justice, encourages violence, rewards corruption, and downplays accountability and good governance. Ahead of the 2023 election, Politicians’ weaponization of hate and violence poses a danger to the sustenance of Nigeria’s democracy. This trend could herald an air of apostasy of hope, truth, and peace in the hearts of many citizens; when this occurs– citizens will want to defy laws and other guardrails of democracy to protest perceived injustices and the manipulation of their collective will, irrespective of the outcome of the elections.

The implication is that the nation will be saddled with the fate of leaders who lack legitimacy and will find it difficult to govern successfully. There are many lessons Nigeria can learn from Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso that elections alone do not preserve democracy. The people are the guardrails of democracy, the sovereign from whom legitimacy belongs, and it is outsourced through an election. Democratic institutions, like the police, the judiciary, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), have greater responsibility during this period to pursue peace, dispense justice, and defend the country without sentiment. This they must do to save Nigeria’s democracy from collapse and build the fate of citizens on the potency of the ballot.

Ominabo is the communications officer at the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation