Category: News

Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s election victory reflects the will of the people

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The Nigerian Human Rights Community (NIHRCO), a coalition of over 100 civil society and community-based groups, says Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s election victory reflects the will of the people.

Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes to defeat Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, his closet rival, who had 312,329, during the governorship election held on March 18.

At a briefing in Lagos on Thursday, the coalition presented its preliminary report on the Lagos guber election.

NIHRCO said it deployed 680 observers across the 20 LGAs and local council development areas (LCDAs) in the state on election day.

The coalition said its observations took a “dialectical overview of the strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats before, during and after the election”.

Speaking on its preliminary findings, the coalition said the shortcomings recorded during the election were not enough to undermine its outcome.

NIHRCO argued that no election is 100 percent perfect globally, adding that total condemnation of the March 18 election process and the outcome is “absolutely wrong and unprofessional”.

“We recognise the fact that the election was conducted in a democratic manner that largely meets local and international expectations.  The outcome of the election truly represents the wishes and aspirations of the people of Lagos,” the coalition said.

“The candidate announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu represents the will of the people while the results declared by the electoral umpire are a true reflection of the aspirations of the people of Lagos.”

The coalition said the election was the “most peaceful election in Lagos since 1999 in the post-military era”.

NIHRCO called on aggrieved parties to shun violence and ethnic profiling and explore all legal means instead.

The coalition also recommended that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should improve the number of polling units in Lagos and make more provisions for vulnerable communities, pregnant women, and people living with disabilities (PLWD) in future elections.

NIHRCO said its full report on the election would be released in due course.

Results of the elections conducted in Ekiti state “expressed the will of the people”

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The Ekiti election should serve as a template to conduct other elections in Nigeria, for Ekiti to have been the first state to release its result showed the effectiveness of the process, despite the laudable efforts of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the process recorded some irregularities.

We think Nigeria needs to learn a lot from the conduct of the National Election in Ekiti State. The election materials arrived as early as 7am in 90 percent of the polling units. The party agents conducted themselves in the most civil manner without pronounced cases of skirmishes.

The security operatives were well detailed and professional in their conduct. We commend the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) officials and the police for their professional conduct during the exercise.

There was lack of intimidation of voters, no vote buying, while polling boxes were not snatched or destroyed during the exercise.

We see this as a very impressive development. It’s a lesson Nigeria needs to emulate.

The governor provided true leadership. Respondents said he consulted widely with all the political parties and drew commitment of non violence. It worked for the outcome of the hitch-free election.

One of the lessons is that the mindset, orientation, and perspective of the political and cultural leadership is important in determining the outcome of elections.

Where political leaders consciously preach against violence through constructive engagement with stakeholders, irrespective of their political leaning, the prospect of having a free and fair election will be very high.

Lack of mobility for voters and the negative impact of the CBN’s cash crunch denied many voters the opportunity of travelling to their communities to cast their votes.

We also observed that Ekiti needs more polling booths. The distance between one polling booth and the others fall below global standards.

We urge INEC to list Ekiti State as one of the communities that are in crucial need of more polling units. From our estimation, Ekiti needs no fewer than 500 more polling units to be able to meet the electoral expectations of the population.

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NHRC to partner with women for women int’l

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NHRC says working with Civil Society Organizations will enable the Commission bridge the gap between it and people in rural areas who suffer various forms of human rights violations.

Executive Secretary of the Commission,

Tony Ojukwu Esq. stated this when the Country Director of Women for Women International,(WFWI) Mrs Bukola Onyishi led a delegation of her organization on a working visit to the Commission.

Ojukwu pledged commitment of the Commission to partner with Women for Women International particularly in areas of capacity building for women in rural areas to identify human rights violations and seek redress when such rights are violated.

The Country Director of WFWI, Mrs Bukola Onyishi informed the Executive Secretary that WFWI is already working in Enugu,Plateau, and Bauchi States where 60,000 women have been given human rights education and skills to live a better life.

She said they were in the Commission to seek partnership for the purposes of building the capacity of women to enable them enjoy their rights, having acquired a means of livelihood.

According to Mrs Onyishi, partnership with the Commission will enable WFWI reach out to more women and men who would benefit from human rights education and legal services.

NHRC, HURIDAC SIGNS MOU ON HUMAN RIGHTS

The National Human Rights Commission and Human Rights Advancement, Development and Advocacy Centre(HURIDAC) have signed an MOU in key areas to deepen the work of Human rights promotion and protection in

Nigeria.

Executive Secretary NHRC ,Tony Ojukwu Esq who signed the MOU on behalf of the Commission stated that capacity building is key to re-positioning the Commission to effectively discharge its mandate.

Ojukwu said there is need to constantly monitor and deal with various human rights violations including electoral violence, extra-judicial killings kidnappings and gender based violence to safeguard citizens rights.

Earlier the Executive Director HURIDAC Mr Ayodele Ameen stated that the capacity gaps of staff of the Commission need to be addressed to enable them undertake research into emerging human rights challenges.

Ameen challenged the Commission to leverage on artificial intelligence and social media to advance the course of Human rights promotion and protection in the country.

He stated that his organization is interested in strengthening the monitoring work of the NHRC and HURIDAC so as to ensure effective tracking,reporting and litigation of human rights violations in Nigeria.

According to him HURIDAC is interested in working with the Commission to monitor human rights violations ahead of the 2019 general elections.

INVESTIGATING SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT SITUATION A SERIOUS CHALLENGE—NHRC

NHRC Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu says that investigating allegations of sexual violence especially in a conflict situation constitutes a serious challenge.

The situation he said is made more difficult owing to the social stigma associated with the crime which makes it difficult for victims to provide evidence.

Ojukwu stated this in Abuja over the weekend while receiving a delegation from the office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict led by Ms Sofia Coelho Candeias in his office.

The team was at the Commission to inquire among other issues about the Amnesty Report claim of Sexual Violence taking place in IDPs camps in the North East.

According to the Executive Secretary as soon as the report was made public the Commission swung into action by setting up a panel to thoroughly investigate the complaints but regretted the poor response from both the victims and members of the society.

“We even placed advertorials in newspapers calling for memoranda or any information that will assist the Commission in establishing the veracity of the claim but nobody came up” He said.

Ojukwu said the Commission is willing to collaborate with any organisations including Amnesty International to investigate any allegations of sexual violence taking place especially in the IDPs camps.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION ESSENTIAL IN CIVIL/MILITARY RELATIONS

The National Human Rights Commission says mutual trust and free flow of information between the civil populace and the Military are crucial towards achieving human rights friendly security operations in Nigeria.

Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu esq stated this in Abuja at a Civil-Military Relations Accountability Forum organized by the NHRC in collaboration with CLEEN Foundation and Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution.

Ojukwu who was represented at the occasion by the Assistant Director Legal, Mr. Halilu Adamu said that as a way of addressing allegations of rights violations against the Military, the Commission ensured that human rights desks are established in all Military Services and appointment of a human rights Adviser to the Chief of Defense Staff among other interventions.

According to the NHRC boss Civil Military Relations Forum has provided a formidable platform for security operatives to tell their own story and for members of the public to peer review their operations in line with human rights standards.

Summit Award

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The 2019 Human Rights Summit and Award organised by the National Human Rights commission in Collaboration with other Stakeholders took Place Between 8-10th December 2019. The summit which attracted over 250 participants all over the country has as its Theme: ADOPTING RIGHTS- BASED APPROACH IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA.
The outcome of the Summit according to Executive Secretary, NHRC Tony Ojukwu Esq will assist Nigeria in fulfilling its international regional and national human rights obligations.

NHRC Condemns rape

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(NHRC) has condemned in strong terms the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl, Ochanya Ochiga by one Andrew Ogbuja of Benue State Polytechnic and his son, Victor Ogbuja, respectively, which incident led to her death.

Accordingly, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Mr. Tony Ojukwu has requested the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and the Benue state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice among others to ensure that the perpetrators of the dastardly act are properly brought to book.

Receiving preliminary report on the matter conducted by the Benue state office of the Commission, Mr. Ojukwu who was visibly angry expressed shock that the little Ochanya, a minor, could pass through the sad experience in the hands of the supposed guardian.

The Executive Secretary promised that the Commission will work with relevant authorities including the Benue state Ministry of Justice and the Police to ensure that the culprits are prosecuted in accordance with the law. Accordingly, he has directed the Benue office of the Commission to hold a watching brief on the matter throughout the prosecution of the matter in court.

He urged the Police to intensify efforts to apprehend one of the suspects, Victor Ogbuja who is allegedly on the run, to face prosecution. The Executive Secretary assured that the Commission will monitor all the processes and mount advocacy around protection of young persons and women from rape and other related sexual assaults and will create awareness of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act.

Mr. Ojukwu said the Commission is working assiduously to promote legislations that protect the rights of the girl child stating that the Child’s Rights Act passed since 2003 has so far been adopted by 24  out of the 36 states in Nigeria. He stated that the Commission will be carrying another round of nationwide sensitization campaign on Child’s Rights Act 2003 to further scale up awareness on the rights of the child including sexual violence and other related human rights issues.

He noted that there are inadequate reportage of rape cases and other forms of sexual violence due to fear of stigmatization urging victims, their relations, and members of the public to always come forward and report such cases to the appropriate authorities so as to ensure accountability for such violations.