IN the recently conducted primaries of two major political parties held in Osun State, there were reported cases of violence and killings. For instance, in the delegates’ congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) conducted to choose participants in the March 7 primary election across the 332 wards of the state, two persons were reportedly killed as the congress turned bloody. Also, a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) was reportedly torched by suspected armed political thugs. Similarly, violence was also reported to have marred the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in the Atakumosa West Local Government Area of the state as a member of the party was said to have died after being hit by a stray bullet. In some other primary elections held in parts of the country in the last few weeks, reported cases of violence and brigandage were the order of the day. For off-season elections to have been this garnished with violence, Nigerians would be excused for wondering what will happen in about a year’s time when the main national elections will be held across the country.

Right now, the violence in off-season elections points to what politicians and their supporters can do if allowed to perpetrate their excesses during the forthcoming general election. It is frightening that politicians are already turning the conduct of congresses at ward, local and state levels into bloody exercises. If choosing candidates for off-season elections is being turned into bloodletting, with politicians mobilising thugs and flexing muscles with the procurement of arms and armaments, there is a reason for all stakeholders, particularly the government, to be concerned. The point has to be restated that the general conceptual understanding of elections is that they are civil exercises conducted with fairness and gentlemanliness. Elections are not, and should not be turned into, war. Politicians who lose out today can be winners tomorrow.

Urgent action has to be taken about the unpleasant indications of the off-season election violence putting Nigerians on edge and making them apprehensive about the future. Apart from the fact that these elections are marred with vote buying and other electoral malfeasances, it is obvious that politicians are intent on perpetually making the electorate, who have been impoverished already, cannon fodder and purchasable commodities in the electoral process. Aware that the electors are poor and impoverished, politicians are visiting the twin evils of electoral violence and vote buying on them. It is certainly axiomatic that politicians who bulldoze their way into power, deploying thugs and miscreants of all hues to achieve ignoble objectives, have nothing of value to offer the country. They are felons and deserve to be in jail.

The tension being created in political circles bodes ill for the country. If anything, the history of political violence in the country should serve as a caution to those minded to tread that same ruinous path. It was a central factor cited by the military adventurists who seized power during Nigeria’s First Republic and set the country on a path that eventually led to a civil war and many other untoward developments. This is, we dare say, not the best way to go for a nation. We therefore call on politicians to play by the rules and stop these acts of violence before, during and after elections.

There must be deliberate efforts to deescalate the electoral process and make it conducive for the long-suffering populace. For instance, political parties are known to have internal conflict resolution mechanisms. As such, aggrieved politicians should learn to explore these mechanisms instead of resorting to violence. In any case, the courts are always there for those who feel that justice has not been done through these mechanisms. In all they do, Nigerian politicians must aim at stopping electoral violence. They must stop the resort to self-help. On the part of the security agencies, particularly the police, there is a need to be vigilant and to apply the provisions of the law in dealing with erring politicians. If a politician commits or sponsors violence in a primary or any other kind of electoral activity, the laws of the land already provide the means for dealing with such a politician. The security agencies should perform their statutory duties diligently and professionally and save the country from possible anarchy.

We are not amused by the spate of violence in political circles. It must stop forthwith.