Elections: TMG, Kano civil society situation room deny call for cancellation, threaten legal action  

…Urge 10th NASS to set electoral offences tribunal

From Desmond Mgboh (Kano)  and Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja 

 Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and the Kano State Civil Society Elections Situation Room, have debunked claims by those they described as people with unscrupulous intentions who are calling for cancellation of the governorship election in Kano State and other parts of the country.

In the same vein, the CSOs called on the incoming 10^th National Assembly to make establishment of the electoral offences tribunal a top priority.

In a statement jointly issued by TMG Chairman, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani) and Convener, Kano Civil Society Elections Situation Room, Ibrahim Waiya, alleged that there were plans to smear the integrity of credible CSOs which have been working hard over the years to ensure electoral integrity in Nigeria.

They regretted that for “obvious selfish and politically motivated reasons, some faceless groups in conjunction with some willing elements in the media have cooked up fake stories about civil society organisations.”

They added: “The spread of this fictitious and malicious news, in a time when the political space in Nigeria is already heated up is not only worrisome but also has the potential to further overheat the polity.

“As champions of democracy, we will not allow smear-campaigners and people with politically motivated reasons drag credible civil society organisations in Kano State and indeed, in Nigeria at large into political wars with political parties.

“TMG, like CISLAC and the Kano Civil Society Forum have done incredible work towards electoral reforms in Nigeria. Since 1998, TMG has championed the democratic path in Nigeria as the foremost election observation group with the widest membership across the length and breadth of Nigeria.

“Ahead of the 2023 general elections, TMG engaged extensively to mobilize citizens to participate actively in the electoral process, while also training and deploying independent observers across the 774 local governments in the country.

“TMG’s position as reflected in the statements it issued throughout the elections, have been on the basis of first hand observation and reports of its observers.

“In the same vein, CISLAC and the Kano Civil Society Forum have contributed their quota through stakeholders’ engagements to ensuring electoral security and integrity, while also engaging to improve citizens’ participation.

“It is therefore unimaginable that, these groups of credible organisations would assume any form of partisan position in their actions or words as has been highlighted in these malicious reports.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it must be categorically stated, that as credible organisations duly accredited by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to observe the 2023 general elections, TMG, CISLAC and Kano Civil Society Elections Situation Room understood their roles in the process and have performed such within the ambit of INEC’s guidelines.

“As credible organisations, we have efficiently performed our observatory function, drawing up recommendations for improvement in future elections. We will never interfere with the conduct of elections or seek to interfere with the judicial processes leading up to a redress of grievances resulting from the elections.

“As a matter of fact, no genuine civil society group will side with any political parties as the position of the group is expected to be apolitical. We regard as act of desperation and selfishness the attempt to rope credible organisations into reports that are clearly politically motivated and sponsored, which claimed to be speaking on behalf of the INEC accredited observer groups in Kano State.”

The CSOs called on the public to disregard in totality the wild reports making the rounds and using the names of credible organisations and called for the cancellation of the governorship election in Kano State.

“We assure the public that we have never at any time issued such statements nor been a party to such conclusions. We strongly believe in democratic approaches to settling elections disputes and encourage all who are not satisfied with the process to seek redress in the court of law.”

They urged the media to filter credible civil society groups from faceless, politically sponsored groups who hide under the names of credible organisations to concoct fake stories that suit their narratives. We implore the media to desist from availing such unscrupulous groups the platform to propagate their disruptive, misleading, and fake stories.

They warned against the illegal use of their names to spin narratives that are capable of further heating up the polity and creating chaos in Kano State and in Nigeria. “Any further misuse of our names in this direction will be met by litigation”, they said.

Meanwhile, TMG Chairman, Auwal Musa and Convener, Kano Civil Society Forum Ibrahim Waiya, while speaking yesterday in Kano said that setting up the Electoral Offences Tribunal would ease the burden currently shouldered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to them, justice must be served or be seen to be served on perpetrators of electoral violence in Nigeria while urging the international community to impose sanctions on the offenders and their sponsors.

Assessing the 2023 general elections in the state and country, they insisted that INEC must collaborate with security agencies to protect voters from political thugs in future elections.