Worried by the undue use of the state owned media
institutions in Abia State to consistently demonize opposition politicians and
especially the All Progressives Grand Alliance [APGA] Governorship Candidate in
the 2015 February Governorship Election Mr. Alex Otti by the Abia state
Government, a pro-democracy Non-Governmental Organization-HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS
ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA [HURIWA] has challenged the Nigeria Broadcasting
Commission [NBC] to sanction these broadcasting agencies to serve as deterrent
to others.
HURIWA said it was
unconstitutional, absolutely illegal and the height of moral depravity that the
Abia state government will put the office of the State ministry of information
and the publicly funded electronic media houses to the partisan services of
only the current state ruling party-Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship
Candidate Dr Okezie Ikpeazu when in fact those institutions belong rightly
to the generality of the tax payers and good people of Abia State.
The Rights group also faulted
the involvement of the holder of the office of commissioner for information in
Abia state serviced with tax payers money from operating as the propaganda
chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate. The Rights
group said that it is a gross violation of the relevant provisions of the
extant and binding electoral Act which prohibits the use of government fund for
electioneering campaign even as it has asked the Independent National Electoral
Commission [INEC] to check these excesses of the Abia state commissioner for
information.
Besides, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS
ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA [HURIWA] has also carpeted the Kaduna and Katsina State
Governors Mr Remalan Yero and Alhaji Ibrahim Shema for reportedly making veiled
threats against political opponents who are campaigning for the seats of
governors of those states in the forthcoming polls. The Rights group said it
was unbelievable that several weeks after a section of the investigative online
media community in Nigeria made the shocking allegations that Kastina State
Governor reportedly called on his supporters to attack political opponents of
the ruling party in the state because they are like cockroaches and the Kaduna
state governor was allegedly caught on the recorded tape warning that his
political platform will return ‘fire-for-fire’ against perceived political
adversaries, the Nigerian Law enforcement agencies have failed to take up the
challenge to investigate these damaging revelations and take proactive
security measures to forestall the breakdown of law and order.
HURIWA has therefore blamed the
failure of the law enforcement agencies to probe these range of allegations of
threats to unleash violence for the reported inter-party unrests that took
place in Kaduna city on Tuesday February 3rd 2015 which has resulted in the
reported killing of undetermined number of party loyalists on both
sides of the political divides in the state. The Rights group warned the state
governors not to hide under the mistaken impression of immunity clause under
section 308 of the Nigerian constitution to allegedly undermine the rule of
law since according to it the immunity provisions does not preclude
investigation of alleged crime and prosecution of the culprits even after
the expiration of the constitutional terms of office.
HURIWA also warned political
opposition parties in Kaduna state to stop their overzealous members from
throwing stones at the convoys of the Kaduna state governor during his ongoing
reelection campaign. The police and other law enforcement institutions must
arrest and prosecute these political hoodlums to stop the escalation of
political violence in the eve of this landmark elections.
In a statement jointly
authorized by the national coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the
National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA stated that; ” We are
worried about the one sided and destructive use to which the Abia State
government has put the Abia state owned Radio and television to specifically
and consistently target the demonization of the governorship candidate of the
opposition All Progressives Grand Alliance [APGA] Mr. Alex Otti by peddling
unsubstantiated and outrightly false allegations of arming private militia. We
note with apprehension that the Abia State governor has further elevated the
wrong use of the state media to carry out political vendetta and other callous
political attacks of perceived strong opponents in the coming
election against all ethical codes of professionalism and in breach of the
legal provisions which prohibits publicly funded media houses from been
hijacked and put to the services of only one candidate even when the media
houses are funded by the tax payers. The Nigerian Broadcasting Commission must
wake up from slumber and carry out oversight functions and sanction these
defaulting media houses so as to restore a sense of decorum and decency.”
HURIWA has also called on the
Chief of Defense Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, the Inspector General of
Police Mr Suleiman Abba and the Director General of Department of State
Services [DSS] Mr. Ita Ekpeyong to rein in their men and
operatives in all the states of the federation and ensure that they remain
objectively neutral and avoid being used by ruling parties in the various
states of the federation or the national ruling party to execute
politically motivated gestapo styled military attacks against perceived
political opponents. “The national authorities of the Nigerian Security
Agencies and Institutions must not allow their operatives and officers
to be hijacked by moneybag politicians and the state governors who operate
as emperors and dictators to witch-hunt perceived political opponents who are
vigorously but legally campaigning to democratically dethrone them at the
forthcoming elections”.
4/2/2015.
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