A Dangerous Dimension to Political Campaigns

Nigeria’s political campaigns are taking on what the article calls a dangerous new dimension, with threats, incitement and demands for electoral loyalty becoming increasingly visible.

The article points to a senator publicly urging people in Osun State to kill supporters of rival parties, a council chairman in the Federal Capital Territory threatening residents unless they vote for his party, and a Borno State commissioner promising to amputate the hands of voters who choose differently. It also cites an unnamed state governor who said elected local government officials would be removed if they failed to deliver votes for his party in the 2027 general election.

The sharpest example came in Ebonyi State, where Governor Francis Nwifuru spoke while swearing in newly elected chairmen and vice chairmen from the state’s 13 local government areas. All had won under the party system the article describes as customary in such elections.

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Any chairman who fails to win his council will be removed from office and replaced with a councillor. I want this information to be on the headlines of newspapers because, as politicians, we would not speak in secret.

“Any chairman who fails to win his council will be removed from office and replaced with a councillor. I want this information to be on the headlines of newspapers because, as politicians, we would not speak in secret,” Nwifuru declared. He added: “The chairmen know we would win in the state and if they choose to sleep and allow others to take their areas, they would be removed.”

The article argues that Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution defines local government responsibilities but does not provide a strong mechanism to protect their financial and political autonomy. It says a Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy remains at the discretion of state governors, who impose local officials through elections described as neither free nor fair.

As a result, the article says, council officials are often grateful or afraid enough to follow governors’ instructions. Instead of serving the people, they become focused on carrying out a governor’s political mandate, particularly securing votes. That leaves the needs of ordinary citizens largely absent from local government calculations, even though local government is the level closest to the people.

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The chairmen know we would win in the state and if they choose to sleep and allow others to take their areas, they would be removed.