Soyinka, observers condemn Rivers polls

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka,
has described as atrocious the
violence that characterised the
presidential and House of Assembly
elections in Rivers State.
There were reports of violence
ranging from setting the office of
the Independent National Electoral
Commission on fire, to the
beheading of an unidentified
civilian.
Soyinka, who rated democratic
experience in Nigeria below 40 per
cent, blamed the Rivers violence on
political leaders and the military.
He gave his position in an interview
with the Channels Television
monitored by our correspondent
on Sunday afternoon.
He said, “If you talk about
democracy, I am afraid, we are still
below 40 per cent.
“There is no question in my mind
that what happened in Rivers State
during the presidential and
assembly elections are, well,
complete atrocious and the finger
points definitely at the kind of
middle character that I am talking
about.”
According to Soyinka, election
period presented the masses with
the opportunity to address the
wrongs done to them by leaders
without resorting to violence. He
said it was criminal for politicians to
use violence to thwart the will of
the people, who had waited till the
election time to correct the wrongs
being done to them over time.
“Elections are supposed to enable
us to avoid response in violence to
mis-governance; you know, you
wait when you are dissatisfied or
your rights have been abused;
citizens wait for that moment when
they can exercise their voice and
then some bunch of criminals
calling themselves governors,
calling themselves generals, calling
themselves ministers, conspire to
thwart the will of the people,” he
said.
Meanwhile, a group of independent
election observers has described
the exercise as bloody and
characterised by several
irregularities.
The observers, who spoke under
the auspices of the African Centre
for Leadership, Strategies and
Development, explained that the
conduct of the polls in Rivers State
was below international standard
of electioneering.
The coordinator of the group, Mr.
Humphrey Bekaren, who addressed
reporters in Port Harcourt on
Sunday observed that apart from
the deliberate delays and diversion
of electoral materials, there were
attacks on electoral officers, killings
and intimidation of voters in
connivance with security agents.
Bekaren pointed that the
disruption of the process by
hoodlums, who had a free reign in
spite of the presence of security
agents was more disturbing,
adding that the mayhem unleashed
on the state led to the death of
several persons.
“What happened in Rivers is a far
cry from what elections should be.
What we saw did not meet the
accepted international standard of
electioneering, not even the ones
set by the Independent National
Electoral Commission.
“There were reported events of
deliberate delays and diversion of
electoral materials, attacks on
electoral officers, widespread
arson, snatching of electoral
materials, killings, voter
intimidation with active
connivance with security agencies.
“In many areas of the state, people
who had no business at the polling
units hijacked the process, chased
away voters, took possession of
materials and engaged in
mindboggling irregularities
presided over by some politicians.”

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