The level of violence orchestrated by political actors in the December 10, 2016 Rivers States rerun election portends ill wind for the next general election, particularly in the state. The level of violence in that election has confirmed our earlier argument that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was within the law and common sense in suspending the election on previous occasions.The violence could not have been worse. Even though the police had deployed 28,000 officers and men, with war boats and helicoptersin addition to assistance from the army and other para-military agencies, still politicians literally turned the state into a theatre of war.For many observers and journalists who monitored the Rivers polls, while INEC did all its best to ensure that the election was not only free and fair but credible, unscrupulous politicians, mainly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), through unholy acts put the electoral body and voters on the firing line in their quest to outsmart, or better still out-rig, each other.The occurrence of violence was despite the heavy cordon of security men around the state for the elections. In one incident, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, Alkali Mohammed, was beheaded, and his orderly decapitated. About three other persons also lost their lives during the election, while some security personnel were also fingered for the violent disruption of the exercise in some areas.Despite the apparent good intention of INEC leadership to guarantee credible and transparent polls, the electoral umpire was almost boxed into a corner as the issue of security that was the bane of the Rivers rerun was clearly outside the purview of the Commission.In the run-up to the election, INEC, under Professor Mahmood Yakubu, was not oblivious of the ominous signs of violence. It had earlier shifted the polls due to security concerns, but not without receiving torrents of bashings from political actors, who cited non-existing conspiratorial theories as real reason for the delay and blamed the umpire for shouting wolves when there was none. Some of the politicians even went as far as saying that the delay in conducting the polls was calculated to punish the Rivers people since INEC had conducted a bye-election in Boko Haram-infested communities adjoining Sambisa Forest. The Senate, obviously caving in to pressure, also issued resolutions ordering INEC to conduct the election willy-nilly.The polls were eventually overshadowed by violence, which many blame on the political proxy war between PDPs incumbent governor, Nyesom Wike and the APCs ex-governor and now Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, as evidenced in their utterances before and during the election.While INEC has vowed to collaborate with security agencies to investigate all violations of the nations laws before, during and after the rerun elections, the PDP has not ceased to blame the electoral commission for allegedly supporting APC in the election. The irony of it all is that the APC is also blaming the same INEC for working with PDP in the election, as it called for the removal of Rivers State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Aniedi Ikoiwak. However, it appears that the intent for the two political parties is to shift focus away from their misdemeanours during the polls, which the Inspector General of Police has already instituted a probe panel on.Political actors in the state are already doing everything to throw spanners in the wheels of the panel. The PDP has dismissed the panel as a hoax while some APC chieftains also fingered in the election debacle appear highly unlikely to show up in the investigation.Whatever the exact explanation for the do-or-die politics in Rivers that has made politicians to deliberately organise violence to affect the outcome of elections, it is high time punitive measures are slapped on such people.We condemn the violence in the election as orchestrated by politicians. We therefore call on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene, especially in calling politicians to order, typically those involved in inciting supporters to violence. If the president came to power on the crest of peaceful and transparent election, he must do more than he is currently doing to ensure same ahead of 2019 general election
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