ROLE OF NIGERIA POLICE IN ENSURING FREE AND FAIR ELECTION
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ROLE OF NIGERIA POLICE IN ENSURING FREE AND FAIR ELECTION
ABSTRACT
In the literature, the involvement of the police in the conduct of elections in Nigeria has garnered substantial attention. While the police have been condemned for various electoral irregularities, little attention has been devoted to the constitutional power of security forces in the electoral cycle.
This paper investigates the role of the police in the 2019 governorship election in Oyo State. Official publications, textbooks, journals, and newspapers were used to collect data.
It names the police as the primary internal security agency in charge of enforcing laws and keeping order in order for the voting process to go smoothly.
Democracy, election administration, the electoral process, security, and the Nigeria Police Force are some of the key terms.
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CHAPITRE TWO
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 THEORY AND CONCEPTUAL ISSUES
The term “police” is derived from the Greek word “polis,” which means “city,” and the Latin word “political,” which means “civil administration.” When the two words are combined, the word ‘police’ refers to the city’s civil government. However, conceptualising police in this way would misunderstand the purpose of this study in a variety of ways.
First, it could imply a police state, which is not what this paper is about. Second, the term civil refers to people and governments acting decently without any military or religious connotation.
Adopting this notion would also include certain other details that were not intended for this effort due to various flaws. For example, we have civil administration as opposed to military administration, or it may refer to the city police administration. Rural places are excluded in this sense.
Regardless of the observed definitional quicksand, this paper profited from the perspectives provided by authors such as Shaw (2002), Clarke (1997), Alemika (2011), and others. According to Shaw (2002), the ABC of police stands for the protection of people and property as well as the avoidance of crime and unrest.
According to Shaw (2002), the ABC of police stands for the protection of people and property as well as the avoidance of crime and unrest. Clarke (1997) believes that the police are supposed to perform the impossible while being efficient within their resources. He emphasises the police’s immense duties and their boundless powers,
which include the right to know more information about persons than the typical person needs to know. According to Alemika (2011), the police serve as a mirror through which the people can observe the aim and direction of the government.
He argues that the massive powers of police are geared towards proper law and order enforcement in order to preserve and sustain public safety and an orderly environment.
He claims that a country is valuable when its police force is active and commands public trust. In this way, the police serve as a lens through which the government’s orientation can be evaluated.
As stated previously, the police exist to maintain law and order in society. In this setting, the police have shared authority with the three main branches of government. The police exist in conjunction with the judiciary to ensure effective criminal justice administration,
in conjunction with the legislature to ensure that the laws and regulations enacted are adequately enforced, and finally, the police are part of the executive arm of government in providing good governance through the provision of public peace and order.
As the guardian of rules and regulations, the police are responsible for maintaining social order by ensuring that everyone follows the law of the land without discrimination.
There is no denying that the Nigeria police force was founded on the necessity to promote internal security and socio-political order. Abba (2014) suggests that the obligation of modern police extends beyond the conventional tasks of arresting, investigating, and prosecuting offenders to ensuring an enabling atmosphere for economic development.
Before colonial administration began in Nigeria, many ethnic groups had varied policing arrangements for maintaining law and order (Innocent, 1997). The present Nigeria Police Force, on the other hand, is of British origin. Its history is based in the British colonial enterprise in what is now known as Nigeria.
Many writers connected the origins of the Nigeria police force to the Colonial Constabulary units established in various West African areas by British colonial powers as a tool for pursuing and safeguarding their commercial interests (Tamuno, 1970, Innocent, 1997, Omotola, 2007, Aper, 2018). A
s a result, the Northern Constabulary established in 1888 in Lokoja, the Royal Niger Coast Constabulary established in 1894 in Calabar, another colonial Police outfit established in 1896 in Ikeja,
and the Lagos Colony established in 1861 were all offshoots of the colonial Constabulary. Major political and administrative developments during the colonial period influenced the growth of the Colonial Police.
For example, the formation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates in early 1900 resulted in the carving out of some parts of the Royal Niger Constabulary to form the Northern Nigeria Police Force, and other parts of the Niger Coast Constabulary to form the Southern Nigeria Police Force. (Alemika,2005).
Although the Southern and Northern Protectorates were merged in 1914 to form what is now Nigeria, the national police force was established on April 31, 1930. It should be emphasised that the colonial overlords in Nigeria founded the colonial police as a means of ensuring and safeguarding their interests in the territory.
However, it should be noted that efforts to indigenize the Nigeria police force were launched during the tenure of the country’s first indigenous Inspector General of Police, Louis Okon Edet, from 1964 to 1966.
This brief history of the Nigeria Police Force demonstrates that, as of October 1, 1960, the role of the post-colonial Nigeria Police Force was to create the safety conditions required for internal sovereignty to develop.
The post-colonial Nigeria Police Force is intended to prevent and detect crime, apprehend and prosecute offenders, enforce laws and regulations, and preserve laws and order in the Nigerian State, in addition to protecting people and property through active maintenance of security, peace, and order.
Omotola (2007), Oyadiran and Olorungbemi (2015), and Mgba (2017) are examples of writers. Afolabi (2018) and others who have investigated the involvement of the Nigeria Police in the electoral process have not depicted the police in a favourable light, instead highlighting their ineffectiveness.
The police have been found to be inefficient, and one of the reasons given is that political influence and corruption caused members of the Nigeria Police Force to be partisan in their electoral obligations, as well as a functional inability to prevent electoral crime. In certain circumstances,
the police have been referred to as the primary source of election security rather than the solution. (CLEEN, 2010). While some of these issues have received considerable attention in the literature, the argument presented in this study is that, while existing electoral laws and guidelines assign the task of security or policing the electoral process to the police,
these legal instruments also contain provisions that limit the police’s effectiveness. Simply expressed, the Electoral Act of 2015 delegated security to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a development that has undermined police professionalism in the electoral process.
2.2 African Elections
Elections in Africa in the twenty-first century appear to have a tenacity that is here to stay. Even countries that have been dictatorial or in upheaval, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, see elections as the threshold to cross in order to legitimise their governments, implement new policies, and prevent public discontent.
In 2008, for example, general elections in Africa included: indirect presidential elections in Mauritius, Rwandan parliamentary elections held from 15 to 18 September 2008, Swaziland’s parliamentary elections held in October 2008, and Ghana’s presidential and parliamentary elections held on December 7, 2008.
Furthermore, following a ten-year delay due to organisational and logistical issues, legislative elections were held in Angola on September 5 and 6, 2008, and in Guinea-Bissau on November 16, 2008 (Africa Press Agency, 26 March, 2008).
Djibouti and Equatorial Guinea held parliamentary elections on February 8 and May 4, 2008, respectively. By the end of 2008, major elections had been held in at least ten African countries, including Ivory Coast presidential elections on November 30, 2008, and Guinean legislative elections in late 2008.
Ivorian and Guinean leaders made clear their reliance on government and international funding for the elections. The number of elections held is important because it demonstrates the awareness of democratic and non-democratic leaders alike of the legitimacy elections give, though the quality of these elections will eventually play a role in advancing or reversing democracy in African countries.
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