By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Dr. Tony Ojukwu (SAN), has said that the 2023 general election and off-cycle elections were characterised by human rights violations by state and non-state actors, disenfranchisement, voter intimidation, violence on electorates and electoral staff, allegations of result manipulations and other electoral vices.
He also highlighted that the periods leading to the elections witnessed prolonged campaigns, the longest in Nigeria’s democratic history but characterized by hate speeches and heightened political tension.
Ojukwu stated this on Wednesday in his remarks at the Post-election Assessment and Review Forum on Human Rights in the 2023 general elections, organised by the NHRC in Abuja.
The objective of this Forum is to review the 2023 General and Off-Cycle Elections from a human rights perspective and to assess the extent to which the outcomes reflect the realization of the rights of the citizens as well as proffer effective solutions for accountability for election-related human rights violations.
Sundiata Post recalls that the NHRC is an Independent national institution established under the Paris Principle and the National Human Rights Commission Act (as amended) for the promotion, protection and enforcement of human rights in Nigeria.
Further recall that since the return to democracy in 1999, the Commission has been playing a fundamental role in advancing Nigeria’s democracy through the development of programmes aimed at integrating human rights into the electoral process and supporting democratic institutions and election management bodies to deliver on their mandates. The Commission’s role in this regard is founded on the recognition of the importance of the consolidation of democracy in the realization of all human rights in Nigeria.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria also hinted that the role of the Commission in the 2023 General Election focused on the Mobilisation for Election Project which was initiated in partnership with LEDAP.
According to the NHRC Scribe, the 2023 General Elections provided Nigerians the opportunity to advance the country’s democracy and to implement the reforms that have been introduced in the Electoral Act of 2022.
Similarly, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) also expressed worries over the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to prosecute electoral offenders in the country.
The Chairman, of the Governing Council of the Human Rights Institute of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Chinonye Obiagwu (SAN) urged INEC to discharge its official responsibilities efficiently.
In a goodwill message at the forum, the Senior lawyer who disclosed that the NBA mobilised over a thousand election observers across the country during the 2023 general elections, said one issue that the NBA is concerned about is, “Electoral offence, which INEC has not done anything about.
In his words, “Since the conclusion of the election, nobody has been prosecuted by INEC for the electoral offence”.
He therefore urged the electoral body to work with security agencies to investigate and prosecute electoral offenders.
Obiagwu also called for the setting up of an Electoral Offenses Commission to tackle the challenges of electoral offences during elections.
The Police Service Commission, (PSC), represented by the Director, Legal of the Commission, Mr. Dada Babatunde, said the outcome of the 2023 general and off-circle elections show that there was a commendable improvement in the electoral process of the country.
According to him, there is a lot of improvement in the conduct and actions of the Nigeria Police in the area of protection of human rights during the elections.
It was also noted that despite that the number of registered voters increased tremendously t little above 90 million, the apathy witnessed in the 2023 general where only about twenty percent voted was unprecedented in the history of elections in Nigeria.