2023 General Elections: The Unresolved Threats of Violence in the South East

Twenty-two days before the commencement of national ballots, first, to elect the president and national lawmakers on February 25 2023, and second, to elect the governors and various state legislators two weeks after. Despite the imminence of the elections, the conditions for credible elections are yet to be substantially guaranteed in some parts of the country. Among the conditions that yield credible elections, transparent management of the electoral processes and security of electoral institutions, as well as the general security of the entire citizens, are minimum. In the past two years, insecurity has risen exponentially in the South East of Nigeria from three core sources. One is from secessionist agitations, and the second is agrarian violence in which the role of aggressive Fulani herders is central. The third major source of insecurity in the South East is banditry by the so-called unknown gunmen. Several criminal elements purporting to be separatist agitators involve kidnapping for ransom, assassinating, extorting rural communities, and other dangerous crimes.

In this edition of the Nextier SPD Policy Weekly, we once again reflect on how the presence of the sources of violence and the nature of official responses to them would affect the 2023 general elections in the South East.

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