The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and the Kano State Civil Society Elections Situation Room are jointly distancing themselves from being part of any protestation against the outcome of the governorship election in the state. Intervention recalls that the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) has found itself with the short end of the stick at the end of the contest in Kano State and the victory of the New Nigerian People’s Party, (NNPP) governorship candidate in Kano State is broadly seen as one of the outcomes that reflect popular choice.
Mallam Auwal Ibrahim Musa aka Rafsanjani, the Chair of the TMG said in a widely circulated statement that any such story is a fictitious imagination of people he said must be selfish and politically motivated reasons, working through willing elements in the media to spread the stuff. Otherwise, none of the three bodies is, according to him, part of any call for the cancelation of the governorship election in Kano State or any other parts of the country.
The statement condemns spread of the stuff at a time when the political space in Nigeria is already heated up and the news has the potential to further overheat the polity. “As champions of democracy, we will not allow sneer-campaigners and people with politically motivated reasons drag credible civil society organisations in Kano State and indeed, in Nigeria at large into political wars with political parties”, it was stated.
Elaborating claims of great works the TMG, like CISLAC and the Kano Civil Society Forum, have done towards electoral reforms in Nigeria since 1998, the TMG Chair stated the positions of the organisations as follows:
- We call on the public to disregard in totality these wild reports making rounds and using the names of credible organisations to be involved in calling for the cancelation of the governorship election in Kano State. We assure the public that we have never at any time issued such statements nor been a party to such conclusions. We strongly believe in democratic approaches to settling elections disputes and encourage all who are not satisfied with the process to seek redress in the courts of law.
- We urge the media to filter credible civil society groups from faceless, politically sponsored groups who hide under the names of credible organisations to concoct fake stories that suit their narratives. We implore the media to desist from availing such unscrupulous groups the platform to propagate their disruptive, misleading, and fake stories.
- We warn sternly against the illegal use of our names spin narratives that are capable of further heating up the polity and creating chaos in Kano State and in Nigeria. Any further misuse of our names in this direction will be met by litigation.
On the basis of its argument that, notwithstanding widespread electoral violence and other forms of electoral malfeasance during the governorship elections particularly in Kano State and other parts of the country, it recommends as follows:
- Strengthened collaboration with the security agencies in Nigeria is critical towards ensuring electoral security in Nigeria. As part of post mortem activities of the 2023 general elections, INEC must begin to prioritize collaboration with security agencies to protect voters from political thugs in future elections.
- Justice must be served and seen to be served on those who perpetrated electoral violence in the 2023 elections, not just in Kano but in all the flashpoints across the country. As we call on the international community to sanction these offenders, Nigeria must be seen to take actions to ensure justice.
- Very importantly also, we have seen how overburdened INEC can be and call on the incoming 10th National Assembly to prioritize legislation to establish the electoral offenders tribunal/commission which will take away the burden from INEC and ensure adequate and timely prosecution of electoral offenders in Nigeria.
- It is also critical for the political parties to reposition the party system with the aim of improving internal democracy in their operations. A huge part of the problems of the 2023 elections stem from the lack of internal democracy in the major political parties in Nigeria. As a machinery that brings about leadership in Nigeria, political parties must ensure democratic tenets in their internal operations or may never be able to uphold democracy in Nigeria.
- We recommend that, all potential elections observers should pass through Anti-Corruption Agencies screening henceforth, to ensure that only prudent and credible organizations are accredited as observers in future elections
- We recommend that, all accredited observers should learn and strictly adhere with INEC guidelines on observers operations, to appreciate their limitations as observers, which is only to observe and make recommendations.
