Presidential Election: Group Identifies Lagos, Kano, Six Other States As High-risk For Vote-buying, Violence

Speak Out Africa Initiative, a civil society organization, has named Lagos, Kano, Kogi, Kaduna, Delta, Rivers, Abia, and Ebonyi as high-risk states for violence, vote-buying, and voter suppression barely 24 hours before the presidential election.

Kenneth Eze, the organization’s executive director, said this on Thursday in Abuja while briefing the media.

He stated that 1,405 election radar officers had been placed around the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, or FCT.

He said that desperate politicians ready to sabotage the voting process must be observed by security agents.

He said, “We must not lose sight of desperate and unpopular political actors who resort to instigating violence to undermine the electoral process. We have seen hate speeches, abuse of political opponents, and attacks that have heightened the political space.

“Through our violence incidence tracker, we wish to alert the security agencies to place an eye on the following states as there is the likelihood of undemocratic actions to be carried out which are proponents of violence. Such states are Lagos as a HIGH-RISK state.”

He stated that Rivers, Delta, Kano, Kaduna and Kogi states have a high risk of political skirmishes, vote buying, violence and other activities to compromise the forthcoming election.

However, Eze added that Benue, Zamfara, Nasarawa, Anambra, and Enugu are low-risk states requiring attention from security agencies.