Preparations for the 2015 general elections are taking place in an increasingly volatile environment, an indication that the country is sliding dangerously towards violence before, during and after the February elections, a report by International Crisis Group (ICG) has warned.
Citing what it described as the increasingly acrimonious relations between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) as a major reason for the sad development, it said this has “already sparked several skirmishes among their supporters and may turn bloodier once candidates start campaigning formally in December.”
It noted that, apart from the inter-party tension, competing claims to the presidency between Northern leaders and their Niger Delta counterparts, are also aggravating tensions around the elections.
In a 48-page report titled ‘Nigeria’s dangerous 2015 elections: limiting the violence,’ published yesterday, ICG, a Brussels-based global conflict think-tank noted, however, that a two-party contest between the PDP and the APC was a sign of progress for Nigeria’s democracy.
According to the report, judging by the usual trend in Nigeria in which elections are traditionally fiercely contested, the risks of violence around the 2015 general elections were particularly high.
As in 2011, clashes could erupt in some northern states if the APC, whose frontrunners are all northerners, loses the polls. There is similarly a high risk of violence if the PDP loses the presidency, particularly in the Niger Delta, home region of the party’s candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan,” it noted.
Source: Leadership
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