The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has charged political actors and the security agencies to do more to stem the tide of political violence ravaging the two states even before the polls commence.
The CDD Director, Idayat Hassan, in statement, Friday in Abuja, said the call was made while speaking at a pre-election briefing held at the Election Analysis Centre (EAC) in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital.
Hassan warned that the tension in the two states is capable of undermining voter confidence and turnout as well as the credibility of the entire electoral process.
She said the CDD’s observation of the pre-election environment points to a very volatile political environment characterised by threats of violence and actual incidents of violence.
“A case in point is the recent attack on the State Secretariat of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), whose governorship candidate, Natasha Akpoti is one of the only three women contesting for the governorship election,” the statement said.
The statement further observed that such vicious political attacks in the state are capable of further discouraging marginalised groups, especially women from participating in the political process and particularly from contesting for political office.
Similarly, it condemned the violent attack on a political rally in Nembe, Bayelsa state, warning that being the first set of off-cycle elections after the 2019 polls, the character of the electoral processes and outcomes in Kogi and Bayelsa states would serve as a litmus test to assess if the key lessons and experiences from the 2019 general elections had been applied to make subsequent elections credible.
