Experts from United States, United Kingdom, Ghana and Kenya are among the dignitaries that would be brainstorming in Abuja on the best policies to ensure violence-free elections in 2015 and beyond.
Among the issues to be discussed is how to avoid the post-election violence that was witnessed during the 2011 general elections in Nigeria.
The Director-General of National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Prof. Tijani Bande, stated this on Saturday during a press briefing on an international conference with the theme: ‘Political parties & violence-free election in Nigeria: Towards deepening the democratic process’.
The event taking place in Abuja between October 27 and 28 is being organised by political parties leadership & policy development centre, an annex of NIPSS Directorate of Research.
Bande said the absence of informed discussion on political parties’ leadership and policy development have severely jeopardised the credibility of public policies, limited their acceptability and undermined their efficacy.
According to him, policy documents from the conference will guide Nigeria in making improvement in its election policies.
The NIPSS DG said, the conference will, among others, try to address issues relating to how security can be arranged during elections and how to encourage the culture of accepting results by the losers.
He said, “The conference is designed to address questions relating to elections, in particular the necessity to have violence-free and fair elections in Nigeria. With the support of international partners, we have designed a two-day intervention dealing with many aspects of the election, the question of how to have violence-free elections, which will be a major improvement from our past experiences.
“The partners have come from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, US, United Kingdom and a host of other countries. But the expertise is also available locally and therefore we have invited experts from universities, political parties and election institutions.
“When the conference ends, we expect to have some policy documents which will guide us into making improvement in policies relating to elections and how security can be arranged during elections, how to encourage the culture of accepting results, whether you win or not.
“We must have elections that do not raise tensions. The idea that electoral vehicles must always be connected to vehicles of violence, it is something no country, no Nigerian will want to continue to happen.”
Also speaking, the Director of Research in NIPSS and renowned Professor of English, Olu Obafemi, maintained that the Independent National Electoral Commission has been improving on its performance to ensure free, fair and credible election, but that more needs to be done.
He said NIPSS has trained leaders of political parties from the zonal and state levels and that there is now greater enlightenment, political education and consciousness of political parties on their roles in stabilizing democracy and moving towards a more democratically cultural political atmosphere.
Obafemi said, “I believe this will rub on what the 2015 elections will be. Even with the elections. That we held recently, you could see that there were less violence, there was more tolerance. But of course, the problems still remains because they cannot go overnight, but as long as we continue to make efforts, the issues would be addressed.
“That is why this conference is important, bringing experts from other countries and looking at their experiences, electioneering, how they have been able to handle issues of electoral violence, electoral tolerance, improvement in the democratic practice so that we can compare notes for us to make credible recommendations for the improvement if our electoral system.”
The Project Director, Democratic Governance for Development Project II, Dr. Mourtada Deme said, “It is possible to have violence-free election in Nigeria. An independent election management body is key in providing a peaceful atmosphere. The leadership displayed by the INEC chairman allows us to hope for that neutrality that will allow us to continue.
“There have been critical times when the leaders of this country, 2010 when they displayed a leadership which shows that despite the differences they have when the interest of the country is at stake, they can settle their differences. I mean people who will understand that sometimes the interest of the country takes precedence.
“In dealing with the electoral process, INEC has put in place the inter-party dialogue which gives them opportunities to come and discuss about the issues. I am hope that such forum will continue to be a place where they will once more, restate what election is all about.”
Among the issues to be discussed is how to avoid the post-election violence that was witnessed during the 2011 general elections in Nigeria.
The Director-General of National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Prof. Tijani Bande, stated this on Saturday during a press briefing on an international conference with the theme: ‘Political parties & violence-free election in Nigeria: Towards deepening the democratic process’.
The event taking place in Abuja between October 27 and 28 is being organised by political parties leadership & policy development centre, an annex of NIPSS Directorate of Research.
Bande said the absence of informed discussion on political parties’ leadership and policy development have severely jeopardised the credibility of public policies, limited their acceptability and undermined their efficacy.
According to him, policy documents from the conference will guide Nigeria in making improvement in its election policies.
The NIPSS DG said, the conference will, among others, try to address issues relating to how security can be arranged during elections and how to encourage the culture of accepting results by the losers.
He said, “The conference is designed to address questions relating to elections, in particular the necessity to have violence-free and fair elections in Nigeria. With the support of international partners, we have designed a two-day intervention dealing with many aspects of the election, the question of how to have violence-free elections, which will be a major improvement from our past experiences.
“The partners have come from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, US, United Kingdom and a host of other countries. But the expertise is also available locally and therefore we have invited experts from universities, political parties and election institutions.
“When the conference ends, we expect to have some policy documents which will guide us into making improvement in policies relating to elections and how security can be arranged during elections, how to encourage the culture of accepting results, whether you win or not.
“We must have elections that do not raise tensions. The idea that electoral vehicles must always be connected to vehicles of violence, it is something no country, no Nigerian will want to continue to happen.”
Also speaking, the Director of Research in NIPSS and renowned Professor of English, Olu Obafemi, maintained that the Independent National Electoral Commission has been improving on its performance to ensure free, fair and credible election, but that more needs to be done.
He said NIPSS has trained leaders of political parties from the zonal and state levels and that there is now greater enlightenment, political education and consciousness of political parties on their roles in stabilizing democracy and moving towards a more democratically cultural political atmosphere.
Obafemi said, “I believe this will rub on what the 2015 elections will be. Even with the elections. That we held recently, you could see that there were less violence, there was more tolerance. But of course, the problems still remains because they cannot go overnight, but as long as we continue to make efforts, the issues would be addressed.
“That is why this conference is important, bringing experts from other countries and looking at their experiences, electioneering, how they have been able to handle issues of electoral violence, electoral tolerance, improvement in the democratic practice so that we can compare notes for us to make credible recommendations for the improvement if our electoral system.”
The Project Director, Democratic Governance for Development Project II, Dr. Mourtada Deme said, “It is possible to have violence-free election in Nigeria. An independent election management body is key in providing a peaceful atmosphere. The leadership displayed by the INEC chairman allows us to hope for that neutrality that will allow us to continue.
“There have been critical times when the leaders of this country, 2010 when they displayed a leadership which shows that despite the differences they have when the interest of the country is at stake, they can settle their differences. I mean people who will understand that sometimes the interest of the country takes precedence.
“In dealing with the electoral process, INEC has put in place the inter-party dialogue which gives them opportunities to come and discuss about the issues. I am hope that such forum will continue to be a place where they will once more, restate what election is all about.”
The Punch
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