Rights groups hail Lagos elections, says it’s fair, credible
A coalition of human rights and civil society groups said on Thursday that the governorship elections in Lagos was free and credible.
The Nigerian Human Rights Community, (NIHRCO), a coalition of 130 civil society and community based organisations, during the presentation of its preliminary report, noted that although no election in the world is perfect, the outcome of the election in Lagos substantially met public expectations.
NIHRCO said the election was not devoid of hitches, but overall, the result represented the free, prior and informed consent of the people of Lagos.
At the event that was attended by 80 leaders of civil rights and community based groups, the body said, “What is left now is to heal wounds and fix broken hearts fuelled by ethnic baiting and hate speeches promoted by non state actors.”
The coalition commended the political leadership of the state government, saying its commitment to a free and fair election eliminated acts of violence compared with previous elections in the state when lives were lost often due to the might of the Federal power forceful attempt at influencing the outcome of the elections.
The group said it deployed observers in many of the 13, 390 and 245 wards in Lagos.
The presentation was supported by members of the Nigerians in Diaspora and South West Professional Forum, (SOWPROF) who spoke through zoom from abroad describing the election in Lagos State as one of the best in the country and a model for future elections in Nigeria.
Nosa Osaikhuiwu, a Project Management expert from the Colorado State University said he followed the elections in Lagos adding that it was one of the best in the country.
He said, “We Nigerians abroad are glad with the peaceful conduct of the election in Lagos.
“This offers tremendous opportunity for Lagos to continue her leadership role as the most significant city state in Africa.”
The coalition in its address read by its Senior Programme Office, Mr Taiwo Adeleye, Mr David Ajetunmobi, and the former Secretary General of Nigerian Automobile Technicians Association, Mr Fred Ojinika said INEC should be commended in many areas including early arrival of officials and materials, provision of BVAS and the prompt transmission of election results across the various polling units in Lagos.
The group said it chose Lagos as one of the focal points in the last governorship election, adding that 680 observers were deployed across the 20 local governments and Local Council Development Areas.
As part of the strength of the election, the group said though the atmosphere was preceded by ethnic and religious baiting, there was no violence while the feud did not result into any major confrontation between the parties. Residents of Lagos still came out to vote.
“We observe that the Lagos State Government made concerted efforts to engage all the stakeholders in Lagos State before the governorship election. We recoginse the impressive moral authority demonstrated by the State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his constructive engagements with communities, irrespective of religion or ethnicity before the election where he sought fair and free election.
“This development contributed in no small measure to the peace and tranquility atmosphere that trailed the election in Lagos State,” the group said.
On security, NIHRCO said security operatives, including the police, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, conducted themselves in professional manners.
The group regretted, however, that the campaign mostly by non state actors was characterised by ethnic and religious baiting.
“Some of the actors in this dangerous enterprise are people who live outside the country. The ethnic baiting was mostly between Igbo and Yoruba people. However, those responsible for the baiting are fringe elements. Majority of Igbo and Yoruba people in Lagos are more concerned with their livelihood and not interested in promoting violence and mayhem.
“We urge stakeholders to stop stoking the embers of violence which is an ill wind that blows no one any good. We call on INEC to improve the number of polling units in Lagos. The distant between one polling unit and the other should be addressed. We call on INEC to make provisions for vulnerable communities, pregnant women, People Living With Disabilities, PLWD in future elections.”
The group said the full report of the observations from monitors will be published and presented to local and international communities.
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