Nigeria: Politics Mired in Corruption and Violence

Government Should Reverse Crisis of Governance

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(Lagos, October 11, 2007) – Politicians have hijacked democratic institutions in Nigeria by turning elected offices into vehicles for political violence and corruption, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch called on President Yar’Adua and the Nigerian parliament to end the impunity enjoyed by abusive politicians and to enact reforms to make government more transparent and accountable.

The 123-page report, “Criminal Politics: Violence, ‘Godfathers’ and Corruption in Nigeria,” documents the most important human rights dimensions of this crisis of governance: politicians and other political elites openly encouraging systemic violence; the corruption that fuels and rewards Nigeria’s violent brand of politics at the expense of the general populace; and the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for these abuses that denies justice to its victims and is a roadblock to reform.  
 
“In place of democratic competition, struggles for political office are waged violently in the streets by thugs recruited by politicians,” said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Once in office, these politicians use their power to undermine basic human rights and enrich themselves at the expense of Nigeria’s impoverished populace.”  
 

In place of democratic competition, struggles for political office are waged violently in the streets by thugs recruited by politicians. Once in office, these politicians use their power to undermine basic human rights and enrich themselves at the expense of Nigeria’s impoverished populace.   Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch

2003 election cycle claimed dozens of lives, but those responsible were not held to account. The same pattern has now repeated itself in 2007, with inter-gang fighting in the streets of Port Harcourt in July claiming dozens of civilian lives and prompting a full-scale military intervention. Still, none of the individuals most responsible for that violence have been brought to account.  
 
In Gombe State, gangs collectively known as Yan Kalare grew into a terrifying force since being sponsored in 2003 by local politicians, and then largely escaped the control of their benefactors. The gangs assaulted, raped and murdered, and none of their sponsors have been held accountable. One member of Gombe’s elder forum lamented to Human Rights Watch that, “We are ruled by gangsters. The major source of criminal activity in Gombe is the politicians and their militias.”  
 
In some parts of Nigeria, the need to mobilize vast sums of money and large numbers of political thugs to compete in politics has given rise to mafia-like power brokers known as “godfathers,” who do not seek to occupy the elective offices they control, but instead use violence and corruption to rig their proteges into positions of influence. In return, they demand regular cash payments embezzled from government coffers as well as the right to control the distribution of government resources, jobs and contracts as patronage. In some cases these relationships are spelled out in remarkably explicit terms – as in the case of a written contract and loyalty oath signed by PDP godfather Chris Uba and then PDP gubernatorial candidate Chris Ngige in 2003.  
 
In Oyo State, PDP godfather Lamidi Adedibu sent gangs into the streets in retaliation for independent action by his one-time protege and then-Governor Rashidi Ladoja. Ladoja’s supporters retaliated in kind. The resulting violence claimed dozens of lives and spread even to the floor of the State House of Assembly. Adedibu also mobilized thugs and attempted to subvert the voter registration process to help rig current PDP Governor Christopher Alao-Akala into office in 2007. Governor Akala told Human Rights Watch that “Chief Adedibu has sponsored everybody. Everybody who is who and who in Oyo State politics has passed through that place [Adedibu’s compound in Ibadan].”  
 
Law enforcement agencies have usually turned a blind eye to crimes linked to influential politicians or powerful godfathers, even where ample evidence of criminal wrongdoing exists. Since the end of military rule, attorney generals at both the state and federal levels have not brought charges against a single prominent politician for involvement in arming or fomenting political violence. In many cases, police personnel have been implicated in the kinds of abuse they should be working to prevent. As one state’s commissioner of police acknowledged to Human Rights Watch, “There are even policemen and soldiers who can be used by people in power to do what thugs would normally do.”  
 
The report notes with concern that no real effort has been made to hold politicians to account for their open mobilization of violence and corruption to secure political power. Until 2007, limited efforts at investigating and prosecuting corrupt politicians focused on enemies of the Obasanjo administration, undermining if not destroying the credibility of those efforts altogether. The government’s much-vaunted Economic and Financial Crimes Commission lost much of its credibility through selective targeting of government opponents in the run-up to the election, and has since done nothing to demonstrate that it possesses the requisite independence to do its crucial job effectively.  
 
The administration of President Yar’Adua is a product of Nigeria’s fraudulent 2007 elections. Nonetheless, his government has embarked on the beginnings of a process of electoral reform that holds out some hope of progress. And thus far it has respected the independence of Nigeria’s increasingly assertive judiciary. However, the federal government has done nothing to end the impunity enjoyed by the perpetuators of Nigeria’s worst abuses. Along with its broader importance that failure will undermine any effort at electoral reform – no amount of institutional tinkering can safeguard the next election if abusive politicians are able to pour their effort into subverting that process and the rule of law more generally with impunity.  
 
“The failure of Nigeria’s 2007 elections is not a problem that can be dealt with in isolation,” Takirambudde said. “Those polls were a stark reflection of much deeper problems that Nigeria’s federal government has thus far allowed to grow unchecked.”

 

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Robot  Villager

# 1 Nigeria: Politics Mired in Corruption and Violence Government Should Reverse Cr...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 09.10.2007 19:05