Nigeria election violence to be investigated

Rights group seeks prosecution of abuse

Sunday, 13 March 2011

Leading opposition presidential candidate Mohammadu Buhari launched his campaign on Wednesday, telling supporters to "lynch" anybody who attempted to rig the April vote (File)

LAGOS (AFP)

Global watchdog Human Rights Watch called on Nigerian authorities Sunday to establish a special commission to investigate and prosecute election-related abuses and violence.

"Nigeria has a history of violent and deeply flawed elections. At least 300 people were killed in violence linked to the last general elections in 2007," HRW said in a joint statement with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

The groups said an Electoral Offences Commission would investigate and prosecute offences under the Electoral Act, including incitement, the use or threat of violence, bribery, theft of ballot materials and falsification of election results.

They also accused the police of complicity or ignoring acts of violence and ballot stealing perpetrated by corrupt politicians.

"It is time for Nigeria to break with the past and to ensure that violence, intimidation, and fraud don’t undermine the credibility of the upcoming elections," said senior lawyer Dafe Akpedeye, who is chairman of the Election Working Group of the NBA, in the statement.

Since November, more than 50 people have been killed in violence linked to political party primaries and election campaigns and the level of violence is expected to increase in the run-up to the April poll, the statement said.

The Electoral Reform Committee, established by Nigeria's late president Umaru Yar’Adua, following the flawed 2007 elections, found that not a single Nigerian had been convicted and punished for electoral offences since the nation's independence in 1960, it added.

"The police lack the political will and independence to carry out investigations of election-related offenses," it stated.