Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) appealed to his fellow politicians and lawmakers to stop using and arming unemployed individuals to disrupt elections.
Speaking during a Senate plenary session, the former Edo State governor argued that the problem of electoral violence, where young men carry weapons like AK-47s to chase away opponents or election officials, is fueled by politicians. He recalled a previous meeting where he suggested that only “big men” (referencing governors) could procure such weapons.
Oshiomhole explained the dangerous correlation, stating that politicians procure weapons and pay hungry, unemployed youth a small fee to use them during elections. Once the elections are over, the politicians fail to retrieve the weapons, leading to an increase in violent crimes and robberies afterward. He urged his colleagues to resolve, both individually and collectively, not to “directly or indirectly, secretly or openly abet unemployed people and Armed them to disrupt elections.”
Furthermore, Oshiomhole made two additional points regarding electoral reform:
* Technology Caution: He advised that Nigeria must be cautious of hackers when implementing technology in elections.
* Separate Election Dates: He stated that he does not support holding the Presidential, National Assembly, and Governorship elections on the same day.
He concluded by stressing that the true value of democracy lies in the feeling that the people, through their free will, chose their representative, and that if elected persons resolve to remove violence, the problem of non-transparent elections would be “90 percent solved.”
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