The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in collaboration with Ford Foundation on Wednesday brought stakeholders to a roundtable to assess and review human rights in the 2023 general elections.
Speaking at the occassion, also supported by the Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Tony Ojukwu (SAN) said 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.
He observed that the 2023 elections were characterized by many challenges, including reported cases of disenfranchisement, voter intimidation, violence on electorates and electoral staff, allegations of result manipulations and other electoral vices.
He explained that following the conclusion of both the General and Off-cycle elections for 2023, the NHRC following its mandate to monitor and assess human rights in Nigeria is conducting an assessment and stocktaking on the place of human rights in the elections, focusing on the multifarious dimensions of human rights violations before, during and after the elections and propose reforms and effective actions to promote the enjoyment of the election associated human rights as well as accountability measures for their violations.
“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”.
According to the Executive Secretary of the commission, since the return to democracy in 1999, the NHRC 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.
Specifically, he said “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”.
He however eulogised the Ford Foundation for its support to the commission’s MOVE Project.
In a goodwill message, chairman of governing council, Human Rights Institute, who spoke on behalf of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chinonye Obiagwu applauded the NHRC for the post election assessment, saying it was a good initiative.
He stated that the NBA mobilised 11000 election observers during the 2023 general elections. “We set up situation rooms to identify what was going on across the country”.
Commenting on electoral offences in the 2023 elections, Obiagwu bemoaned that no single person has been charged to court since the end of election.
“Despite ballot snatching and other electoral offences, nobody has been found culpable in the 2023 elections” he said.
Continuing, he said there are 3500 electoral complaints against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Mr. Dada Babatunde, Director of Legal who spoke for the Police Service Commission said the gathering was a post mortem of the 2023 polls.
He added that elections in Africa is characterised by violence, stressing it has affected it’s credibility.
He stated that the Nigeria Police Force has severally been accused of inefficiency during elections. “There is improvement in the professional conduct of Nigeria Police during the 2023 elections, although, there is room for improvement” Babatunde said.
According to him, the 2023 elections and off cycle elections was a litmus test to our reforms.
Similarly, chairman of Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Mr. Auwal Rafsanjani said bad governance is noticeable in sub Sahara Africa.
Represented by Mr. Suleiman Mande, Rafsanjani emphasised that democracy cannot thrive if citizens rights to vote is hindered.
He therefore called on stakeholders to look for solution oriented approach to citizens rights to enhance democracy in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Co-convener, Civil Society Election Situation Room, Mr. Y.Z Yau told the audience that democracy is the route to improving the lives of the people.
