Akande calls for election campaigns without intimidation in Nigeria
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Daily Post
Busari Shaamsuddeen Akande, a former Kwara Central senatorial candidate, calls on Nigerian politicians to prioritise issue-based campaigns. He says intimidation, economic coercion and political violence threaten electoral participation and democracy, according to his statement cited by Daily Post Nigeria.
Busari Shaamsuddeen Akande, a former Senate candidate for Kwara Central in Nigeria, is calling on political leaders to prioritise issue-based campaigns and abandon intimidation and violence ahead of the next elections. In a statement issued in Calabar, he said political violence, economic coercion and the alleged use of state institutions against opponents threaten democratic participation, reports Daily Post.
Akande includes threats against voters, harassment of opponents and economic pressure on civil servants and business leaders among forms of intimidation. He is calling on security forces to remain neutral and judicial and electoral authorities to prosecute those responsible for and behind electoral offences, while urging parties to prioritise peaceful political engagement.
His recommendations come as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently threatened sanctions against electoral actors at fault and political leaders have stepped up calls to protect the electoral process. On 10 November, the PANDEF forum notably called for prosecutions after a person died in Asaba, while Henry Dickson accused the APC of exercising a mandate not won at the ballot box.
