The Federal Government of Nigeria says the just concluded general election recorded lowest violent in the election history of the nation. This was made public by Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed during a media interaction at Washington DC with international media like Hudson Institute, The Atlantic Council and Wilson Institute on contemporary global issues.
Responding to questions bothering on the opposition calls for the cancellation of the Nigeria 2023 elections over alleged violence, he said it is unjustifiable and uncalled for.
Making reference to a document presented by a coalition of civil society groups in Nigeria, Lai Mohammed said the reported death of between 13 and 28 people during the just concluded elections was the lowest since the 1964/65 elections.
Based on his analysis, in 1964/1965 no fewer than 200 deaths were recorded as a result of election violence. In 1993
election recorded 100 casualties, the 1999 elections recorded 80 deaths, the 2003 polls recorded 100 deaths while 300 lives were lost during the 2007 election.
The data released by the minister show that in 2011 elections recorded 800 casualties, the 2015 polls recorded 100 deaths, and 150 casualties were recorded during the 2019 polls.
In his attempt to justify and validate the 2023 election he acknowledged violence as a culture in Nigeria politic, but condemned the losing of life’s during electioneering process.
He expressed his optimism, while looking forward to the time when the country would step up to the level of minimising violent and casualties during election.
Quoting the police report, the minister said there were 489 cases of electoral infractions during the election and 781 electoral offenders that would be charged in court.
The minister reported that 300 polling units affected by the 2023 election is not a sufficient grand for the cancellation of the entire polls
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