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United States Government has stated that there is evidence that Nigerian security agents intimidated voters, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission and even election observers during the 2019 general elections.
The agencies indicted are Department of State Services and the Nigerian Army, intimidated voters,
According to the US, this fuelled the impression that the Nigerian Army worked for the success of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The US further stated that the Nigerian judiciary was still susceptible to intimidation by the executive and the legislative arms of government, adding that there was corruption in the judiciary, which made it not to be able to function independently.
These observations are contained in the 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in Nigeria released by the US Department of State on Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained by Sunday Punch on Saturday.
The 44-page report read in part, “During the year (2019) INEC conducted the presidential election, National Assembly elections, state House Assembly elections, and local elections in all 36 states plus the FCT, as well as governorship elections in 30 states.
“There was evidence military and security services intimidated voters, electoral officials and election observers. In addition violence in several states contributed to lower voter participation and added to the sentiment the army is a tool of the ruling party in many parts of the country, particularly in the South.
For example, widespread violence and military involvement in electoral processes, including during the vote collation process, significantly scarred the governorship election in Rivers State. Additionally several of INEC’s resident electoral commissioners reported DSS operatives intimidated them when the RECs attempted to protect voting materials. Some RECs reported security service personnel visited them multiple times prior to the elections.”
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It added, “There were reports that corruption, including vote-buying, were historically high during the 2018-19 electoral season. Examples of vote-buying were apparent in the re-run of the Osun (State) gubernatorial election in September 2018, and during the Kano (State) gubernatorial election on March 9 (2019).
According to the report, the judiciary has been unable to function optimally due to executive and legislative intimidation as well as corruption.
It said court officials were also poorly paid thereby making them susceptible to manipulation.
The US stated, “Although the constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary, the judicial branch remained susceptible to pressure from the executive and legislative branches. Political leaders influenced the judiciary, particularly at the state and local levels.
“Understaffing, underfunding, inefficiency, and corruption prevented the judiciary from functioning adequately. There are no continuing education requirements for attorneys, and police officers were often assigned to serve as prosecutors. Judges frequently failed to appear for trials. In addition, the salaries of court officials were low, and they often lacked proper equipment and training.”
