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Widespread Violence Brought Buhari to Power, Says Human Rights Watch
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The Nigeria elections in 2019 that gave President Muhammadu Buhari a second term were marred by political violence, Human Rights Watch has said.
The report issued by the organisation on Monday said some cases of the violence were carried out by soldiers and police officers.
“Buhari should take concrete steps to address the widespread political violence, and to ensure accountability for human rights abuses by soldiers and police as he begins his second term,” the report said.
“The election period included persistent attacks by factions of the insurgent group Boko Haram in the northeast; increased communal violence between nomadic herdsmen and farmers spreading southward from north-central states; and a dramatic uptick in banditry, kidnapping, and killings in the northwestern states of Kaduna, Katsina, and Zamfara.
“Security forces have failed to respond effectively to threats to people’s lives and security.”
The report quoted Anietie Ewang, Nigerian researcher at Human Rights Watch, as saying that, “The lack of meaningful progress in addressing the prevalent political violence, as well as lack of accountability for rights abuses, marked Buhari’s first term in office.
“He should put these issues at the front and centre of his second term agenda and urgently take concrete steps to improve respect for human rights.”
The statement said that Human Rights Watch interviewed 32 people, including voters, journalists, election observers, activists, and Independent National Electoral Commission officials in Rivers and Kano states, and documented 11 deaths specifically related to violent interference in the election process during the February 23 federal elections and subsequent state elections.
It said the elections contributed to the general insecurity across the country, even as politically related violence were reported in many states in contrast to the relatively peaceful 2015 elections that brought Buhari into his first term in office.
Citing a report by SBM Intelligence, which monitors sociopolitical and economic developments in Nigeria, the statement said 626 people were killed during the 2019 election cycle, starting with campaigns in 2018.
“Kano state, in northwestern Nigeria, has the highest number of registered voters in the country. Rivers state, in the Niger Delta, receives the largest share of crude-oil-based national revenue, representing significant electoral value to any political party,” the report said.
“The history of elections in both states is replete with violence by state security agencies and criminal elements.”
The report noted that despite police claims of increased security measures to ensure peaceful voting, HRW found that there seemed to have been little or no police response to reports of threats and acts of violence by hired political thugs and soldiers against voters and election officials.
“Voters and election officials said that policemen either fled or stood idly by, fueling allegations of complicity, as perpetrators stole election materials, disrupted voting, and harassed voters,” said the report.
“Witnesses said that the police also shot live rounds of ammunition and used teargas to disperse people protesting voting disruptions.
“Witnesses said that after a soldier was killed in the town of Abonnema, in Rivers state, on election day, soldiers shot at residents, killing an unknown number of people.”
HRW said soldiers also carried out sweeping arrests and arbitrarily detained several people.
The report also cited a 37-year old man who witnessed the incident. He said, “The soldiers were on a rampage, shooting at anyone around. As I made my way to flee, I saw people dive into the river, many with gunshot wounds. The next day I saw three dead bodies riddled with bullets floating in the water… I heard many more bodies were later recovered from that river.”
The army, HRW reported, said in a statement that on election day, unidentified people attacked soldiers, killing one, and that the soldiers killed six of the attackers in response.
“On March 15, the spokesperson for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Festus Okoye, accused soldiers of intimidation and unlawful arrest of election officials in the state,” the report further noted.
“The Nigerian Army on the same day announced the creation of a committee to investigate allegations of misconduct against its personnel during the elections. The committee was given two weeks to produce its findings, but it has not published its report.”
HRW also reported the rising cases of Banditry and the recurring cycles of deadly violence between herdsmen and farmers, which it said had taken the lives of thousands.
Citing a civil society report, HRW said over 3,641 people have died from deadly clashes between herdsmen and farmers since 2015 and at least 262 people have been killed by bandits since the beginning of 2019 in Zamfara State alone.
“The government deployed 1,000 military troops to the state in response, but few of those responsible for the violence have been arrested or held to account,” it said.
On the activities of Boko Haram, HRW noted that in recent months, renewed fighting between Nigerian government forces and a faction of Boko Haram, known as Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), has led to secondary displacement of civilians.
“Security forces have been implicated in serious abuses, including arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention without trial, torture, extrajudicial killings, rape and sexual violence against women and girls in camps for displaced people,” the report further documented.
It also cited the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which stated that more than 27,000 civilians have died and about 1.8 million people have been displaced since the beginning of the conflict in 2009.
“Authorities have also failed to address impunity for killings by security forces elsewhere in the country. The authorities have yet to publish the report of the Presidential Judicial Panel set up in August 2017 to investigate the military’s compliance with human rights obligations, allegations of war crimes, and other abuses by the military,” it said.
The report also quoted Mr Ewang as saying that Nigerian voters had entrusted Buhari with another opportunity to address the nation’s serious human rights problems, including political violence.
“He should start by reforming the security forces to ensure strict compliance with human rights standards, and prompt investigation and prosecution of those credibly implicated in abuses,” he said.
Premium Times
President Bola Tinubu has told members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council not to expect him to accompany them to every campaign event ahead of the 2027 general election, saying he must remain focused on governance and the country’s economic responsibilities.
Tinubu spoke on Wednesday during the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja, where he urged members to take the party’s message to Nigerians across the states and local government areas while he continues to attend to matters of governance.
The president said he agreed with concerns that the demands of the campaign should not distract him from running the country, adding that Nigeria needs his attention at the moment.
“You’ve warned me not to allow the rigour of the campaign to distract me from governance, I hear you. I am in full agreement with your decision. Nigeria needs more attention now,” Tinubu said.
He told council members to excuse him from accompanying them to every campaign event, noting that his administration has bills to pay and international financial obligations to meet.
“So, you will excuse me from going everywhere with you, we have bills to pay. The American creditors cannot wait,” the President said.
Tinubu also said the government needs to attract investors who would commit to long-term investments in Nigeria and contribute to the future of the country’s children.
“We want those investors to come in, be here to stay, to invest for the future of our children,” he said.
The president, however, assured Nigerians that he would continue to engage them directly even as the campaign council took charge of mobilisation across the country.
“However, I will still make time to speak directly with Nigerians, even as you lead the campaign in the states and local government areas,” he said.
Tinubu described the inauguration of the council as more than a campaign activity, saying it represents a renewed commitment to Nigerians and the responsibilities of the ruling party.
“We have not gathered merely to inaugurate a council. We have gathered to renew a covenant. A covenant with Nigerian people and the historic responsibility they have entrusted to us as Nigeria’s governing party,” he said.
He added that the council is expected to communicate the administration’s vision, achievements and agenda to voters nationwide.
“This council will carry our vision, our records and our agenda to every Nigerian, and it will carry them to victory every ward of this country,” Tinubu said.
The president also commended APC members for completing the party’s congresses, recalling that some had predicted internal crises during the process.
He said the party has overcome the challenges and emerged united, crediting members for participating in the process from the ward level to the national leadership.
“They said there will be implosion. We passed through it. We did not fail. You didn’t let us down. We got here together,” he said.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has named Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); Ademola Adeleke, Osun State governor; and Chukwuma Soludo, Anambra State governor, as campaign coordinators in its expanded presidential campaign council for the 2027 general election, despite their affiliations with other political parties.
Wike belongs to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Soludo is a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), while Adeleke won re-election as Osun governor in 2026 under the Accord Party.
Under the new arrangement, Wike will coordinate the APC campaign in Rivers State and the FCT, Soludo will oversee Anambra, while Adeleke will coordinate the campaign in Osun.
The expanded list is scheduled for inauguration by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday.
The APC initially released its campaign council list on August 22, naming Abdulaziz Yari, former Zamfara governor, as director-general. Senate President Godswill Akpabio, House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and Yobe Governor Mai Mala Buni were appointed deputy director-generals.
In the revised list, Akpabio, Abbas and Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq are deputy vice-chairmen I, II and III, respectively, while Buni becomes deputy director-general I for the North.
The council also includes former governors and party chieftains as advisers, which include former APC national chairmen Adebisi Akande and Abdullahi Adamu; former Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun; former Osun State Governor Iyiola Omisore; Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo; Senator George Akume; former Ogun State Governor Segun Osoba; and Wale Edun. Obafemi George is listed as an adviser on media.
The Directorate of Election Planning, Coordination, Monitoring and Mobilisation, established ahead of the 2027 general election, has Faleke as Deputy Director-General, with Stella Okotete and Engr. Abdullahi Garba Ramat serving as Secretary I and Secretary II, respectively. Audu Maikori is also listed as a secretary.
Other members of the directorate include Soares Omotola, Bashir Dabo, Sheriff Mohammed Usman, Jibrin Bancir, Ayoola Peter Olajolo, Abubakar Sadiq Sada and Princess Folasade Ogunbiyi.
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has questioned how the Federal government’s 30-day petrol price discount would reduce poverty, unemployment, insecurity and inequality in the country.
Obi raised the questions in a statement posted on his X platform on Sunday, describing the initiative as a reactive policy that substitutes political optics for sound economic planning.
He argued that the discount, which he said amounts to less than five per cent of petrol costs, is unlikely to address the wider economic challenges facing Nigerians.
“The announcement by the APC-led Federal government offering a 30-day discount on price of petrol to relieve the acute hardship and hunger caused Nigerians by its unplanned removal of subsidy can only be described as another very reactive and confused approach to governance that is now the culture of the Tinubu government,” he said.
Obi said he had delayed commenting on the policy to allow time to assess its outcome, but maintains that the measure has not demonstrated a sustainable approach to addressing the country’s economic difficulties.
He recalled that President Bola Tinubu removed the petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023, arguing that the decision was taken without adequate consultation or a proper assessment of its likely effects on the economy and the livelihoods of ordinary Nigerians.
According to Obi, the subsidy removal was followed by other policies, including the floating of the Naira and tax reforms, which he argued are being implemented without proper sequencing and coordination.
He also criticised the government’s handling of multiple budgets, arguing that the combined effect of the policies has contributed to inflation and rising costs of goods and services.
Obi attributed what he described as increasing multidimensional poverty, business closures, unemployment, insecurity, widening inequality and youth migration to the economic pressures arising from the policies.
He also said the policies had weakened the general well-being of Nigerians, insisting that the government should assess their impact before introducing temporary relief measures.
The former Anambra State governor called for a detailed and publicly available regulatory impact assessment of government policies, arguing that such an exercise would help identify their effects and guide necessary adjustments.
He said a government committed to sustainable economic growth should engage stakeholders and ordinary citizens in consultations to develop inclusive policies that improve living conditions and expand economic opportunities.
Questioning the objectives of the petrol discount, Obi asked whether it would increase productivity and exports or whether it was intended to determine if the subsidy should be restored.
“Will it reduce poverty, unemployment, insecurity, and inequality? Will it increase productivity and exports? Is it a test to ascertain if subsidy should be restored? Is it another political gambit in the face of threats of electoral loss in the 2027 election?” he asked.
“Too many questions, no answer!” the former Governor of Anambra State added.
