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