Kukah Centre flags 15 areas in Osun for possible election violence

The National Peace Committee, through The Kukah Centre, has named 15 local government areas in Osun State as places with high chances of violence before the August 15 governorship election. They warned that these areas could become flashpoints that threaten a peaceful election.

These findings came to light during a meeting held in Osogbo on Friday. This meeting was supported by the European Union as part of the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria program. Representatives from the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, security agencies, and other stakeholders were present.

The report stated that organized political violence, institutional tensions, electoral offences, and misinformation are serious risks. It highlighted the need for stakeholders to work together and take steps to prevent conflict.

After presenting the report, Asabe Ndahi, the Project Manager of The Kukah Centre, pointed out that Osogbo and Irewole are the two local government areas marked as critical risk zones. She also mentioned Iwo, Boripe, Ife Central, and Ife East as high-risk areas.

Ndahi explained that the report was shared with security agencies and other stakeholders to help them create plans to lower security threats and boost voter turnout on election day. "We are here to present to them the report of findings from our Election Security Information Hub, which is based at The Kukah Centre, Abuja, and get feedback from them on what they will be doing as we progress into the election."

She continued, "Based on data we have, we have about 15 local governments that are between critical, high and moderate risk. Particularly, Osogbo and Irewole local government areas fall within the critical risk index."

"In the last six weeks, we have deployed field observers who are gathering data for us on security incidents in Osun State, so the risk index for Osogbo and Irewole is high. We have the other high-risk local governments like Iwo, Boripe, Ife Central and Ife East. In all of these places, we have been able to track and see that we have critical flashpoints ahead of the election."

"So we are discussing with the security agencies to see how to curtail or reduce the incidents as we progress into the election to make sure that election day is safe for the people to come out and vote," she added.

During the meeting, participants discussed the issues raised in the report. They also confirmed their commitment to ensuring peaceful elections. They encouraged political parties, their supporters, and residents to reject violence and uphold democratic values, ensuring that political competition remains peaceful throughout the election process.

Earlier, The Kukah Centre held a training workshop for 45 field observers to monitor election security and compliance ahead of the August 15 governorship election. During the training in Osogbo, Vicham Hajara Waziri, the centre’s Project Manager, said the observers were selected from the state’s 30 local government areas.

She noted that local government areas identified as high-risk would have more than one field observer to improve monitoring and reporting of any election-related security problems.