2027: THERE MAY BE CONSEQUENCES FOR ELECTORAL OFFENSES, ELECTIONS OBSERVER WARNS RIVERS POLITICIANS

Ahead of the 2027 general elections, an international election observer, Dr Joseph Ekong, has warned that Rivers State may face dire  consequences if  the provisions of the Electoral Act are violated by political actors in the state.

This, according to Dr Ekong, is because the international and donor communities are beaming their searchlight on the state.

Dr Ekong, who spoke during a radio interview programme in Port Harcourt, also hinted that the donor communities were also withdrawing  funding for election monitoring in the state.

“I want all the political actors to know that the international and donor communities, they are beaming their searchlight on Rivers State here and there might be consequences, dire consequences, for the violation of any section or provisions of the Electoral Act. They should just note that”, he said

Dr Ekong also condemned the spate of destruction of campaign billboards across the state, describing it as a recipe for violence.

He said security, which is a frontline issue, should be the concern of every Rivers person.

According to the international observer, it behoves on the appropriate authority to ensure security, especially in this electioneering campaign period.

 “I think the stakeholders that are supposed to ensure election security have not been performing optimally based on their constitutional responsibility.

“The security agencies, I don’t think they are doing very well.They need to step up in ensuring adequate security during the electioneering period and, again, INEC cannot do so much in terms of elections security”, he said.

Dr Ekong said the agencies that are saddled with the responsibility of providing security must be up and doing.

In his words: “The agencies that are saddled with the constitutional responsibility of providing election security are the security agencies led by the police force. (Because) when it comes to election security, the police is the driving agency that coordinates other security agencies in policing the electoral environment. But unfortunately, I don’t know what their problems are.

“If it is funding or partisanship, it’s an issue that should be interrogated as we approach the elections proper “, he said.

The elections observer also said that the manifestos of the various political parties were defective, stressing that the common thread running across the manifestos was how to grab power with a view to looting the treasury.

In his words, “And you know all the political parties, their primary aim is to capture state power, and of course in doing this, it depends on the approach that each of the political parties will deploy.

“Most of them deploy do-or-die style in capturing state power and it’s not that they want to capture state power for service delivery to the people. Majority of them want to capture this power in order to gain access to the treasury of the state for primitive accumulation of wealth, which is very sad”.

He called on candidates to put security of lives and property on the front burner while the issue of climate change should be given serious attention.

“I think, (security), being a frontline issue, should concern every Rivers person. Security should be number one issue, because without security we cannot have a conducive environment for investment.

“Also the issue revolving around climate change mitigation and environmental protection… We have seen in recent times that flooding has become a nightmare for most of the residents in the state here.

“So, any person that is coming foreward should be able to bring an antidote and blue print that he or she will use in addressing that issue of climate change and environmental protection.

“Another issue should be in the area of industrialized agriculture, because that will help in addressing the issue of food security”, he said.

He said candidates should also focuse on human capital development “because a great number of the population in the state are not meaningfully and productively engaged, and that is a recipe for insecurity”, he noted.

Dr Ekong also stressed the need for the political actors to create a conducive environment for citizens participation in the electoral process.

By: John Bibor