Perpetrators Of Electoral Violence Should Be Tried By ICC- Peterside

Co-founder of Initiative for Credible Election (ICE) and sociology teacher at the University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Sofiri Joab Peterside told KELVIN EBIRI that no efforts should be spared in ridding the country of electoral violence, while the Internation

Iis because there is a very high premium placed on power. Power in this case is not desired to bring happiness to the greatest number of the people like Jeremy Bentham would say. In the Nigerian case, it does appear it is that desire for primitive tendency to accumulate state resources that drives the political class. It is clear to all that power has become a veritable means of accumulation of wealth as people that were never people of means suddenly become people that thrive in ostentatious lifestyles, which is at variance with their previous conditions. With this kind of position, they are able to dominate other people.

So, access to state resources is where the main problem lies. Those who used to be in government, but who are no longer in government; those who have tasted the perversity of office would want to get it and get it at all means. And those who are currently holding state power and realising what benefit there is from power also want to keep it perpetually. That is why the contest for power assumes this dimension because power is just required, desired for personal enrichment and not for the generality of the people. Otherwise, you cannot mobilise to annihilate those you want to govern; you cannot mobilse to snuff life out of youthful population of those you want to govern, the very age bracket that ought to constitute the workforce. You cannot mobilise to decapitate those young persons that ought to be the engine of your economy. What you see here is what I call booty capitalism, booty democracy. present government as not doing well), to mobilise the electorate via campaign and alternative programmes to change the government. But when people are denied that access; when citizens who ought to be defended by state security forces are those that are attacked, then there is a problem. Rivers State is a very important state in our country just as Akwa Ibom State is. If you look at the revenue that has actually come into this state since previous administrations, you will see that Rivers State and Akwa Ibom State have got a lot of revenue from the Federation Account. So, every other politician is interested in what is happening here, particularly in terms of businesses. Any party that has Rivers State will be perceived to be doing well in terms of financial and other types of support. But more important is the fact that in Rivers State you have key persons (politicians) who are also playing active role in the current Federal Government and they desire so much also to create the impression, and demonstrate the fact that they are also in control of the state. That is another way of shoring up their bargaining strength, power and recognition at the centre. Therefore, the contest to reclaim this power was very strong. Remember that that in the Niger Delta region, apart from Edo State that has gone the way of the dominant political party, the rest of the core Niger Delta states are in the opposition party. So, that creates the impression that the dominant political party don’t have a foothold in the Niger Delta and so there was concerted efforts by politicians from this zone to also demonstrate that they are in control, or that they possess the capacity to mobilise support for the party at the centre.

In doing so, every power at their disposal was deployed to consummate that goal. The utterances of the politicians on all sides created the impression that unless something is done urgently, we may be relapsing into the situation we found our state in the rerun elections. The marketability of Rivers State is being adversely impacted; the kind of image we get is that of violence. When you go out of this state people don’t even believe you are alive or there is nightlife here. own kind of analysis, rather than democracy, Nigeria or African brand of democracy bringing power to the people; empowering the people, what you see is democratisation of disempowerment. He was of the view that the people are even more disempowered by the brand of democracy we practice. So, if you ask me, Nigerian politicians are actually disempowering our people through this democratisation process. The worst that I have seen is the violence that characterised these last elections in Rivers state, which was on a very high scale that even foreigners are those who are raising the alarm.

However, one thing that is so important and interesting in this militarisation of the political process here is the role that women have played. In some areas where you see men in military uniform unable to cart away electoral materials they were stopped by women who came out in their numbers, without arms, only singing praise songs and sitting down. It happened in Okrika, it happened at Bolo, in Opobo, and in Abonnema, where they also raised alarm over insecurity.