Members of the House of Representatives were sharply divided on Tuesday on whether to order an investigation into the security breaches and violence that characterised the conduct of the last governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa states.
Although the motion which came under matters of public importance eventually sailed through, some members believed that the motion had hidden political motives
Chief Whip of the House who seconded the motion to allow the House to take the motion said he seconded it blindly without knowing the rea intentions.
The motion sponsored by Hon. Toby Okechukwu and Solomon Bob asked the House to constitute a joint committee on Police Affairs, Army, Justice, Electoral Matters and Human Rights to investigate the pre and post-election security breaches during the elections including the alleged presence of fake police officers and unmitigated violence during the election and make recommendations for further legislative action.
Hon. Toby Okechukwu reminded the House of the widespread violence witnessed during the election which he said recorded about a dozen deaths.
He also informed the House of alleged claims by top officers of the Nigeria Police Force that the Police had prior intelligence that the elections would be violent and that fake officers were responsible for the said violence.
According to him, reports released by Civil Society Organisations that security officials were complicit in the violence and disruption that characterized the Kogi and Bayelsa elections. Also aware that Governor Seriake Dickson reported that soldiers were deployed to Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
He recalled that Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth & Advancement (YIAGA) and Situation Room had called for cancellation of the elections following the role of security agents who though saddled with the constitutional responsibilities of maintaining the rule of law and the defence of citizens’ rights, were alleged to be colluding with thugs to steal ballot boxes or actively participating in disrupting polling units.
He reminded the House that 66,241 police personnel were deployed for the elections comprising 35,200 to Kogi and 31,041 to Bayelsa States respectively, as confirmed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, AbdulMajid Ali in charge of Operations on November 14, 2019.
He expressed concern that in spite of such massive deployment of security personnel coupled with the intelligence reports, the elections witnessed such degree of violence resulting in the death of one Mrs. Salome Abuh.
He also expressed concerned that the Police Service Commission (PSC) also blamed insufficient manpower as reason for the widespread chaos during the elections.
He said the motion became necessary because the last general election did not witnessed the kind of violence in Kogi and Bayelsa, saying nobody can say what will happen in the other elections that are coming up, therefore the need to take steps now to address the lapses.
He said the police high command need to explain to Nigerians what happened to the large deployment of security men during the election, adding that “if we fail to do the needful, we would have failed the spirit of the constitution”.
Contributing to the debate on the motion which lasted for about 72 minutes, Hon. Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) said the function of the House was to make laws for the good governance of the country.
He said there was the need to take a critical look at the incidents in Kogi and Bayelsa states, adding that it will not be fair for the lawmakers to keep quite as if nothing has happened.
He said “we are all democrats here. Where there is a threat to democracy, we will all be affected. Right now, there is a threat to democracy. This is the time for us to make hay. The least we can do is to support the motion for further legislative action.
Hon. Babatunde Salam asked the House to look dispassionately at the motion as the events in Kogi and Bayelsa were not hidden to the world.
Hon. Nkechi Onyejeocha said the parliament must rise to the occasion and allow its relevant committees handle the matter and invite the police to explain what happened in Kogi and Bayelsa.
She however believed that the motion was premature.
While supporting the motion, Hon. Yusuf Datti said he was opposed to the language of the motion and some of those who have contributed to the motion, saying the motion was based on party position and therefore ill motivated.
He argued that those supporting the motion must have some ulterior motives, saying “we are representatives of Nigerians. We are here to make laws for the peace and good governance of Nigeria.
“I personally suspected ill motives, but let us contribute to saving lives. For Nigerians to lose their loved one in such a manner is not good. But to make comparison with previous elections is out of place.”
Hon. Tahir Mongunu said even though seconded the motion to take the bill, the sponsor digressed from his understanding of what the bill was about, but argued that there was the need for attitudinal change.
He said Nigerians should not see elections as a do or die, but as means of service to Nigerians.
He said there was the need for members to initiate a private member bill on the need to have an electoral offences commission that will be saddled with the responsibility of prosecuting electoral offenders.
He said it was clear that both the Nigeria Police and the Independent National Electoral Commission has become toothless bulldog, adding that while he supports the need to investigate the security breaches, he was totally against the motion.
Deputy Speaker of the House, Ahmed Idris Wase warned against passing the motion as it may affect negatively or positively the outcome of cases that may go to court as a result of the outcome of the election.
Before putting the motion to a motion to a voice vote, the Speaker of the House amended the motion to include the fact that the report of the investigation must not mention the name of any political party as being guilty or not guilty of violent conduct during the election, adding that if the report mention any name, it will not be considered by the house.
The motion was later passed unanimously and referred to relevant committees for investigation.
Nation