Nigeria’s 2023 Elections: APC-Sponsored ‘Thug’ Who Enjoys State Protection

Nigeria’s 2023 elections may have come and gone, but Nigerians have still not recovered from the pains of having the results allegedly altered from the polling units. They are also still bleeding from the death of death of loved ones, not forgetting various injuries, due to thuggery and “state-sponsored attacks”.

Musiliu Akinsanya, AKA MC Oluomo has been the nightmare of election officials and voters who have fallen victim to his unending attack and intimidation during major electioneering in Nigeria, especially in Lagos state.  Lagos, the commercial capital of Africa’s largest economy has been held hostage by this state-sponsored thug who has continuously unleashed mayhem on the voting public, especially those who do not align themselves with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) during elections.

MC Oluomo, a prodigy of Nigeria’s President-elect in the highly disputed Nigeria’s 2023 Elections (Presidential), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had been a “prominent figure” among Tinubu’s “foremen” since the days when the former governor of Lagos was at the helms of Nigeria’s richest state and the 6^th sub-economy in Africa. MC Oluomo is also, of course, a card-carrying member of the APC, a party which Tinubu co-founded ahead of the 2015 elections. Mc Oluomo is also the leader of the Lagos State Parks and Garages Management, popularly called the “Agbero”. He is also regarded as Lagos state’s richest and most illustrious “agbero”

However, MC Oluomo has been brought to the spotlight once again, following series of attacks on voters during the February 25 Presidential elections and the March 18 Governorship and States Houses of Assembly elections. Just days before these elections, MC Oluomo had been seen in various videos issuing threats and warnings to residents of Lagos state who were from the nation’s south-east Igbo ethnic group, not to come out to vote on Election Day, if their choice of candidate was not the APC standard-bearers. 

These threats went viral on both social and mainstream media, with calls from various quarters asking for the arrest and prosecution of MC Oluomo for hate speech and threats to public peace.

However, these calls fell on deaf ears, as both the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Lagos state governments, allegedly needed MC Oluomo to carry out their sinister plans of disenfranchising supporters of the opposition. Following the threats, many Nigerians, wondered why one individual could openly threaten a whole ethnic group and mutter hate speeches at them without security officials putting that man in check, in order to avoid a situation of voter apathy.

Nigeria’s 2023 Election: February 25, Presidential/National Assembly Polls

Albeit, on the 25^th of February, the day of the presidential polls in Nigeria’s 2023 elections, thugs went on a rampage in various polling units, in Lagos state, attacking and intimidating voters who did not vote for the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The polling units attacked mostly were those in areas where Igbos were mostly resident. Places like Apapa, Ojo-Alaba, Ago Palace and Isolo areas of Lagos state recorded various degrees of violence, from ballot-box snatching, and physical assault of voters, to shooting and all sorts of harassment and intimidation.

There were also reports reaching jerrymusa.com of thugs turning voters who merely “looked Igbo” back to their houses, telling them to go back to their villages to vote. Several videos of these dastardly events were circulated all over social media, as well as the local and international mainstream media, but there appears not to be a single arrest made so far, while MC Oluomo and his followers terrorised and brutalised Nigerians for exercising their civic responsibility of choosing a leader through the ballot.

This left many people in and outside Nigeria wondering if Nigeria was still a democratic nation, or it had gone back to its dark days of military dictatorship. Many pondered, if Nigeria was still a democratic nation, why then would the people not have a choice to pick their own candidate, since that is one of the provisions of democracy?

First, it is important to establish that democracy is a system of government where power is held by the people. It is a form of government where citizens are given the right to participate in the decision-making process of their country. In a democracy, the government is elected by the people and is accountable to them. If this is so, why then does the case with Nigeria seem to be different? Still examining democracy and its provisions: a fundamental provision of democracy is “freedom”. From freedom of speech, where citizens are allowed to express their opinions without fear of persecution, to freedom of association, where citizens have the right to be members of any lawful association, including a political party, without living in fear of harassment or being attacked.

Governorship/States Houses of Assembly Polls

March 18 was also scheduled to be the day for the governorship and state houses of assembly polls in Nigeria’s 2023 elections. Just like the presidential elections, MC Oluomo also trended a few days before the governorship elections, issuing threats and warnings to residents of Lagos with intentions of voting for candidates other than the incumbent governor, Babajide Sanwoolu, while he was at a meeting organized by members of the APC. MC Oluomo was purported to have said any Igbo that came out to vote another candidate or party, would have themselves to blame.

In a Déjà vu-like turn of events, exactly how it happened during the presidential elections, the threat videos went viral again, but the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police, Chief Superintendent of Police,  Muyiwa Adejobi, was quick to jump to the defence of MC Oluomo, explaining on national television that, MC Oluomo did not mean to threaten Lagosians, but was only making jokes. Many Lagosians, in a show of disappointment and utter disgust, berated the Police spokesperson, saying he preferred to take up the role of a spokesperson to MC Oluomo, over his Police PRO roles. The angry Lagosians wondered why MC Oluomo could not be arrested and made to state exactly what he meant with his divisive, provocative utterances.

This overrules yet another provision of a democratic government, which guarantees the right of the people to vote. Here, citizens are allowed to vote for their representatives in government, and elections are held regularly to ensure that the government remains accountable to the people. But, sadly, that is not the case with Nigeria. The ruling All Progressives Congress, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as well as the Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwoolu, has been visibly retrogressive in its style of governance, taking Nigeria back to the sore days of military dictatorship and disregard for the rule of law.

It is common knowledge that Nigeria’s 2023 elections were the worst in the history of the nation. As the Nigerian government continues to harbour the criminal MC Oluomo, Nigerians continue to wail in desperation for a truly democratic dispensation that will undo the deluge of wrongdoings perpetrated by the present administration.