Politics
2023 Campaigns: NHRC To Set Up Hate Speech Register
The National Human Rights Commission, on Monday, said it would set up a national hate speech register to track inciteful and hate speeches in campaigns for the 2023 elections.
The commission said the action followed the rhetoric of hate speech by the various political sides and their supporters, adding that it would encourage the participation of citizens in the electoral process.
The Executive Secretary of NHRC, Tony Ojukwu (SAN), said this at a programme on the launching of ‘Mobilizing Voters for Election,’ which held in Abuja.
He also stated that the commission was partnering with Facebook and Twitter to develop an easy platform for monitoring media outlets for tracking violators.
According to him, the commission would be working with relevant security agencies to ensure citizenship access to the voting process and to protect their rights to vote rather than intimidation.
Ojukwu said the programme was aimed at ensuring the facilitation of citizens’ access to Permanent Voters Card, promoting citizens’ participation in the electoral process through access to PVC and ensuring that law enforcement and security agencies adopt human rights principles in protection of voters access and participation.
Ojukwu said, “The NHRC is establishing a national hate speech register which will monitor and track hate speeches from all platforms across Nigeria and deploy its enforcement mandate on perpetrators.
“The commission will be working with Facebook, Twitter and other platforms to fully establish a monitoring mechanism to achieve this objective.
“The National Human Rights Commission on its part will fully advocate against the use of hate speech. The commission will not act in support of any effort that seeks to place spurious limitations on the right of freedom of expression.
“The onus is on those who seek to police speech, especially on social media to walk this fine line and strike the right balance in order to ensure that human rights are not further violated, whilst fighting hate speech.”
He said, as part of the project, the commission would ensure political parties and politicians integrate human rights commitments and messages in their various campaigns.
The NHRC also hinted that plans were underway to design PVC observatory centres across the country to observe and collect difficulties encountered by citizens during collection of PVC.
The commission recalled that the three elections in 1999, 2003 and 2007 were trailed by complaints of irregularities, ranging from logistical failure, disenfranchisement to electoral fraud of all kinds.
Ojukwu said the trend had negative consequences to the growth and sustenance of Nigeria’s democracy and laid the foundation for a subsequent radical shift in voter behaviour as evidenced in the apathy and regression in electoral participation that would be witnessed in subsequent elections.
He said, “Consequently, in the three subsequent elections in 2011, 2015 and 2019, citizens’ participation in the electoral process and voting plummeted, reaching to a historical low of 35 per cent in the 2019 elections. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, the percentage of registered voters who voted in the 2011, 2015 and 2019 elections were 53.7, 43.6 per cent and 34.75 per cent respectively.
“Of the 84,004,084 registered voters in 2019, only 28,614,190 voters cast their ballots at the presidential election. In per capita terms, turn out in the 2019 election represents the lowest in the West African sub-region.
“Statistics available to the commission reveal that only around 10 per cent of the voting eligible public participated in the 2021 election in Anambra State. The lack of effective voter participation in elections robs citizens of their fundamental role in a democracy, which is the freedom to choose their representatives.
“We believe that this MOVE project will enable the commission to integrate human rights into democracy and as well ensure citizens’ participation in the upcoming 2023 general elections.”
Politics
Alia Denies Calling For Ganduje’s Resignation
Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, has denied calling for the resignation of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje.
This was contained in a press statement issued on Wednesday in Makurdi by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr Tersoo Kula.
The Tide source reports that the CPS was reacting to some media reports that the governor had called for the resignation of the APC national chairman.
Kula said the governor at no time called for the resignation of the APC national chairman.
He said the governor enjoyed a good relationship with the Ganduje-led leadership of the APC.
“It is imperative to clarify that at no point did Governor Alia assembled, attended and sent a representative or participated in any meeting to discuss the removal or call for resignation of Alhaji. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
“The Benue State governor remains firm in his support and allegiance to the leadership of the National Working Committee of the APC, under the leadership of Alhaji Ganduje.
“Furthermore, at no point, whether publicly or privately, has the governor advocated or expressed any desire for the resignation of the national party chairman”, he said.
He said the governor was focused on positively changing the fortunes of the state.
“He is alive to his responsibilities as the leader of APC in Benue State and is doing everything legitimate to reposition the party for future victories,” Kula said.
Politics
LP Re-Elects Abure As National Chairman
The embattled national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Julius Abure, has been re-elected for a second term by a unanimous affirmation of delegates despite the protests by the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The Chairman of the National Convention and Deputy Governor of Abia State, Mr. Ikechukwu Emetu declared him the winner during the party’s national convention that held in Nnewi, Anambra State, on Wednesday.
Other serving officers of the party were also returned unopposed.
Recall that the NLC had called for Abure’s resignation as party chairman and the immediate constitution of a caretaker transition committee to organize an all-inclusive national convention for the party.
Meanwhile, a factional chairman of the Labour Party in Anambra State, Mr Peter Okoye has boasted that the Nnewi national convention will not stand.
Describing the convention as a sham, Okoye said: “This is not a convention. We are on top of the matter. It’s purely illegal.
“There was no ward congress, no local government congress, no state congress, and now who and who are the elected delegates that are electing the National Working Committee, NWC, members?
“The NLC was not there, TUC was not there, the owners of the party and members of the NEC and BOT members were not there too. So, who is holding the convention?”
Politics
Suswam Blames External Forces For Problems In PDP
Former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is being undermined by external forces which have rendered the party ineffective as a viable opposition.
Senator Suswam stated this during a live television interview on Wednesday.
He lamented that the party had since after the 2023 general elections failed to live up to expectations of Nigerians as a viable opposition.
Senator Suswam, who blamed the current PDP leadership for the ineffective state of the largest opposition party in the country, said unless there is an overhaul of its leadership, the party would “go nowhere” because the current leadership has lost focus.
He said, “I think there are subterranean forces inferring in the party and they are determining what is going on in the party. And the leadership is acquiescing to it.
“Subterranean suggests that people are trying to control the party from the outside. They are controlling the party from the outside and they are keeping the party in a comatose state.”
The Benue senator accused the party of refusing to call a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to help resolve some of the issues arising in the party.
He regretted the inability of the party to resolve the fallout of the 2022 presidential primary election which saw a group of five governors work against the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
He added that the inability of the Iliya Damagum-led leadership to discipline erring party members worsened the situation.
Senator Suswam said it was wrong for the party not to have sanctioned the G-5 governors and their allies who openly declared that they would remain in the party and work against its interest.
“They were not sanctioned which made others become emboldened to act anyway they wanted. PDP has been weakened since then,” he said.
He said no serious organisation does that, stressing that, “A serious organisation would apply sanctions” based on the laid down rules as contained in its constitution.
He further accused the acting national chairman of the party, Ambassador Iliya Damagum, of occupying the position which belongs to the North-Central zone, following the removal of the substantive chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, who hails from the zone.
Amb. Damagum, who was the Deputy National Chairman (North), hails from the North-East zone but was, as permitted by the party’s constitution, made acting chairman after Ayu’s removal by a court order.
The party’s law provides that the deputy chairman from the same region as the chairman takes over in the event of the latter’s removal from office.
Senator Suswam further lamented that “PDP is comatose now, and nothing can happen now,” adding that it was regrettable that politicians are now preferring to hold talks with smaller parties and not the PDP.
Noting that the PDP was at the precipice, Senator Suswam said, “Until we provide that leadership, PDP will not be a viable platform. We need to overhaul the leadership of the party. There is no pretence about it, everybody in PDP knows it. Without discipline and reconciliation, the party goes nowhere.”
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