Apr 17, 2007News: Polls in Nigeria Marred by Fraud and Violence
By vanrozenheim
(Port Harcourt, Nigeria) – According to a report by Human Rights Watch, the voting on April 14 in key Nigerian states including Rivers and Anambra was marred by fraud, intimidation and violence. Nigeria’s nationwide elections, conducted on April 14 and April 21, mark the country’s first handover of power from one civilian head of state to another.
The 2007 elections are also crucial because a failed election in 2007 could serve to entrench patterns of vote rigging and electoral violence as a central part of Nigeria’s political system. Nigeria has not held a free and fair election since the end of military rule in 1999; according to observers, national and statewide polls in 1999 and 2003 were marred by widespread fraud and violence, as were local government polls held in 2004. Due largely to widespread patterns of corruption and unaccountable governance, most of Nigeria’s population remains mired in absolute poverty despite rising government revenues since 1999.
The elections haltered the passage of the unholy "Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2006" which would introduce draconic punishments for any expression of gay life, including counselling of gay individuals on AIDS-related issues. The Bill prompted harsh reactions from gay community and several foreign governments, among them US State Department and EU parliament; the Gay Homeland Foundation spoke of criminal conspiracy to committ genocide on Gay people in Nigeria.
The British-based Anglican LGBT group Changing Attitude pointed out in an earlier press release that the ceremonial opening of the new session of Parliament is scheduled to be held on May 29, 2007. It is still theoretically possible for the next government to reintroduce the bill, though this would be unlikely in the first term as politicians would be trying to satisfy many different expectations as a result of the elections.
Nigerian electoral and government officials have not acknowledged the failure of voting in many areas, insisting that the polls were conducted in an entirely satisfactory manner. In Rivers, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner publicly declared, with total disregard for the facts on the ground, that in “almost all” parts of the state, voting took place smoothly from early morning until the close of polls.
“The elections in Rivers and Anambra were blatantly stolen and their results cannot be allowed to stand,” said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The elections should be re-run in those states, and anywhere else where the rights of voters have been systematically violated.”
