By Emma Okereh.
The National Human Rights commission (NHRC) in collaboration with United Nations (UN), Monday, organized the January edition of its monthly review forum for Human Rights and elections.
It raised the alarm that the February and March general elections might be marred by voter apathy occasioned by insecurity especially in the South East zone of the country. Speaking at the commission’s Mobilizing Voters for Election (MOVE) initiative, Mr Hillary Ogbonna who represented the Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu at the occasion, explained that in line with the commission’s mandate and avowal to mainstream human rights issues into electioneering campaigns, the NHRC has been monitoring developments in the polity.
He decried the level of hate speech introduced into the campaign by presidential candidates and their spokes persons. He equally noted the level of political intolerance, killings, denial of campaign space for opponents and all manner of rights abuses into the campaign and concluded that it is capable of scaring voters away from performing their civic rights. The commission equally frowned at the attacks on the facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and on the security agents saying it is an attack on democracy.
The commission vowed to make use of the instruments available to it to bring the perpetrators to book if voters’ rights are violated at the elections. The commission also said since the MOVE initiative was launched, it has organized a town hall meeting with the presidents candidates in Abuja. It also organized another town hall meeting with governorship candidates where about 85 guber candidates and their chairmen were in attendance. He emphasized the importance of the engagement as respect to human rights will automatically guarantee good governance.
At the event, members of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) stated that its over 90 members would observe the elections. In its remarks, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) assured of its commitment in discharging its duties with high regards for preserving the fundamental human rights of all citizens.
It also stated that the Corps would mobilize one hundred thousand personnel drawn up from special units for the 2023 elections. The Forum provides avenue to assess the participation and readiness of the citizens for the forth coming elections especially in the area of permanent voters card collection.
