A non governmental organisation has identified money politics and god fatherism as the main causes of political violence in the country.
The NGO, which specialises in observing and monitoring elections, also attributed causes of violence during election to quest for power at all cost by politicians , corruption , poverty and ethnic politics .
The NGO stated this in Lokoja Thursday during the post election review meeting organised for media practitioners in Kogi state.
The Early Warning Coordinator of the group, Omolola Mamedu, said while reviewing the last elections in Kogi state said that the overall analysis revealed massive election violence, political killings, ballot box snatching and the use of thugs to perpetrate violence.
Mamedu said there was proliferation of fire arms leading to sporadic gunshots by unknown gunmen in fake police uniforms.
She also stated that intimidation and harassment of voters, observers, the media and INEC officials, equally characterised the elections while hate speech were freely employed during the period under review.
The early warning coordinator who condemned the unprofessional conducts of some INEC officials and security agents , expressed appreciation for the role of media despite operating in a difficult circumstances during the election.
Mamedu called on relevant actors and security agencies in the electoral process to adhere to early warning signals of electoral violence and appropriately seek measures to mitigate or prevent violence from escalation.
“There is need to commence early voters education six months before any election, so as to inform voters on the need to vote for their preferred candidate instead of encouraging vote buying”, she said.
She urged political parties and their supporters to refrain from deploying and perpetrating electoral violence , appealing for adhered to the rules of election as contained in the constitution.
