Work harder to mitigate electoral violence – KSMWC tells international partners

The Kaduna State Mediation Working Committee (KSMWC), has called on international partners and local civil society organizations to work hard toward mitigating electoral violence through intensive campaigns for tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

A communique issued and read by Nurudeen Dauda at the end of its meeting in Kaduna on Wednesday tasked INEC to act to douse inter-party tensions thereby assuring and guaranteeing the safety of voters at their respective polling units.”

The committee expressed delight with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for taking steps to protect the integrity of what could be a particularly complex electioneering process.

It explained that records showed that more than 90 million Nigerians, in a population estimated at over 210 million, are eligible to vote in 2023, saying that the number is considerably larger than the 84 million of those who cast their votes in 2019.

It added that to ward off fraud, manipulation and rigging of the elections and burnish the vote’s legitimacy, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is rolling out technological innovations which have boosted voter confidence in the credibility of the elections.

The communique expressed concern about the several factors that continue to heighten the possibility of violence which must be tackled, pointing out that the persistent multi-facet security challenges across the country coupled with a series of protests are affecting election preparations and could disrupt the vote in many places, thus raising the risk of post-election protests that could degenerate into street clashes or worse.

It also expressed concern over the shortages of petrol in most parts of the country and the scarcity of cash, following the federal government’s introduction of redesigned Naira Notes in December.

According to the communique, “INEC and the security agencies must strive to ensure the credibility of the elections, especially by minimizing technical flaws and curbing vote buying. The federal government should act fast to resolve the fuel and currency crises.”

“It is pertinent to note that, from January to mid-December 2022 according to reports, armed groups have killed more than 10,000 people and abducted more than 5,000 in about 3,000 incidents by bandits/Boko Haram through the collection of ransoms and destruction of properties that occurred in at least 550 of the country’s 774 local government areas particularly in Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Zamfara states as well as the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”

”The situation is quite worrisome going into the 2023 general elections as herder-farmer conflict continues in parts of Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Plateau States, aggravated by long-running ethnic and religious feuds as all of these unaddressed security issues.

The committee noted that for nearly 40 years, Kaduna State has been embroiled in multiple ethnoreligious crises that have pitted one part of the state against the other, saying that in those 40 years, it has been from one attack to another with alarming casualties and the destruction of properties worth millions of Naira.