The inspector general of police, Mr. Usman Baba, has pointed fingers at separatist groups like the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Yoruba Nation agitators, and unnamed failed politicians, among others as those working to scuttle the 2023 general elections.
Baba made the allegation in his presentation during the sitting of the house of representatives’ ad hoc committee investigating attacks on the facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Recall that there have been renewed attacks on INEC offices in some parts of the country in the past months in some states including Osun, Ogun, Ebonyi, Imo, and Anambra.
The police chief who was represented by the deputy inspector general of police in charge of operations, Mr. Dandaura Mustapha, said the attacks on the offices of the commission increased after the ban on political campaigns was lifted.
He said the attacks in the southeast could be traced to the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN), while the attacks in the southwest could be traced to the Yoruba Nation agitators.
Baba further said some politicians who lost out in the political game are willing to play spoilers by taking actions that could undermine the election.
“The Nigeria police, being the lead agency in internal security and elections generally, is always at the receiving end. Whatever happens, the police must protect people and property here and there.
“When INEC finally lifted the ban on campaigns, the campaigns commenced, and what we realised initially was inter and intra-party disputes.
“We realised that members of political parties were destroying billboards, posters, campaign offices in some parts of the states. We quickly alerted the commissioners of police in charge of the commands and gave them clear directives that it is the right of every political party to go to all the nooks and crannies of society and campaign.
“It is a constitutional right, so on no account should a state governor or any state actor prevent political parties from moving about to do their campaigns.
“We now come to the immediate attack on INEC facilities. Of recent are the ones that took place in Osun, Ogun, Ebonyi, Imo, and Enugu.
“It is a well-known fact that in the southeast geo-political zone, we have issues of secessionists, the IPOB and ESN. What we have discovered is that these groups are bent on stopping elections from taking place in the South-east.
“They have been attacking our personnel; they have been killing our personnel. They have been retrieving arms from members of the security agencies, not only the police — the military and other paramilitary organisations that are there.
“They have been doing it, especially now that the ban on campaigns has been lifted. The election is approaching very fast and they are putting much pressure to see that this election does not hold in the South-east political zone.
“In the southwest, we have the pro-Yoruba secessionists that are equally bent on seceding and not allowing election to take place in their areas, hence the attack on INEC in Osun and Ogun states of recent.
“There are other ones that are sponsored by politicians and other stakeholders. There is also an issue of failed and desperate politicians who are bent on stopping INEC from conducting this election.
“The failed politicians are those who could not come back (win election) through any political party, and as far as they are concerned, ‘let everything spoil; let everything scatter’.
“They are using that opportunity to sponsor illiterate followers of the party and hoodlums to make sure that this general election does not hold and should not be successful.
“On the part of the desperate politicians, they feel that since they cannot stop INEC from taking all these measures (to stop election rigging), let them sponsor hoodlums to make sure that this election should not be a successful exercise,” Baba.
In his presentation, INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, decried the continuous attacks on the commission’s facilities saying the trend may render it unprepared for the 2023 general election.
He told the lawmakers that the commission could no longer bear further attacks on its facilities ahead of the elections February 25 and March 11, 2023 elections.
He said the commission had so far recorded 50 attacks in 15 states since 2019, with Imo State topping the list with 11 attacks followed by Osun with seven; five cases in Enugu and Akwa Ibom, and four apiece in Abia and Cross River.
He further disclosed that two attacks were recorded in Anambra and Taraba states and one each in Bayelsa, Ondo, Lagos, Borno, Kaduna and Ogun states.
He said while the commission was working to replace damaged or lost items following the attacks, it cannot be doing that forever.
He added that while INEC was taking measures, including relocation of some of the offices from vulnerable areas, it is working on use of technology and collaborating with security agencies to do everything to stop the attacks on its facilities.
He expressed optimism that despite the seeming threat to the 2023 elections and the spate of attacks by criminals on its facilities, “such attacks will not stop the conduct of the elections.”
