CLEEN Foundation has said only two states and the Federal Capital Territory are presently safe for the conduct of the forthcoming general elections in the country.
Naming the states as Jigawa, Kano and Abuja, the Executive Director, CLEEN Foundation, Gad Peter, made this known on Wednesday in Abuja while presenting the ‘2023 Election Security Threat Assessment’.
The executive director noted that 13 states were violence prone and the remaining 21 had pockets of violence in various quarters.
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Peter named the violence prone states as; Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Benue, Gombe, Bauchi, Plateau, Nasarawa, Taraba, Edo, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Abia
The report comes as the executive director said the foundation commissioned researchers across the six geopolitical zones to examine the security situation in relation to the elections and make recommendations for the successful conduct of the elections.
Peter said, “The frequent serious attacks on security agencies, installations and infrastructure in recent months are highly worrisome and condemnable. The pattern of recent attacks on security facilities and INEC infrastructure is suggestive that they are facilitated by criminals who are bent on pushing the country off the cliff.
“The law enforcement agencies need to take measures to prevent further attacks to boost the confidence of voters before, during and after the general elections. It is important to note that as recorded by INEC the recent voter registration has recorded the largest number of voters registered in the history of our elections and we are afraid that resources might be wasted if criminal attacks, threats and intimidation through violence and hate speeches lead to voter apathy.
“CLEEN Foundation is worried over the unhealthy and divisive verbal attacks, hate speeches and criminal attacks on police, INEC offices, which if not firmly addressed may pose serious challenges to the elections, peaceful-coexistence and the unity of our beloved nation.”
Peter added that the foundation employed the methodology of Election Violence Mitigation Tool of the Electoral Institute of INEC developed to track electoral risk factors with the potential of impacting negatively on the peaceful conduct of elections in Nigeria and to map out key electoral risk factors peculiar to each geopolitical zone.
