Keeping The Civic Space Wide Open

Recent developments in Rivers State have created a cause for concern as the nation grinds towards vital general elections in February and March 2023.
On Wednesday, December 7, 2022, armed assailants broke into the premises of Senator Lee Maeba in the Government Reservation Area of Port Harcourt, brutalised the residents and destroyed exotic cars and other property within the premises. Maeba, who was not at home at the time of the incident told reporters later on that he believed that what happened was a failed politically motivated assassination attempt on him. The former senator is a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Council in Rivers State.
In November, the Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Rivers State was physically barred from meeting with his supporters in Oyigbo and Okrika Local Government Areas. Captured on video those who barred him made it clear that it was only candidates of a particular political party that were free to hold political meetings in their areas.
Much earlier, the Governor of Rivers State had issued Executive Orders 21 and 22, which sought to limit the use of public places like schools and playgrounds for political rallies and meetings. One of the orders, mandated local government chairmen to step in and stop any political meeting that did not get the approval of the government. Another of the orders said those wishing to use public schools and other public places for rallies and meeting would have to apply two weeks before the event and in addition, pay a nonrefundable caution of N5 million. Executive Order 22 barred political parties and party candidates from using apartments in residential areas as their base or offices.
Coming in the middle of electioneering campaigns and leaving little room for those that could be affected by the orders to arrange to comply or make alternative arrangements, the executive orders could help to further shrink the civic space and deny candidates and political parties the freedom to reach out to the electorate.
The coming elections will provide a further opportunity for Nigerians to elect new governments and those that will represent them in the various state and national assemblies. Their choices will determine to a large extent, the type of people and government that will govern their affairs for another four years. It is for this reason, it is important that the window provided for the political parties and their candidates to campaign, should be opened wide enough to enable them reach out and interface with the electorate. And nothing should be done to narrow this space. Executive orders by government that deny opposition parties and their candidates the opportunity to campaign freely are undemocratic and unconstitutional.
Politicians who have by far been the main beneficiaries of the return of democracy in Nigeria, should know better than to truncate the process. Politics should be about development, growth and guarantee of human and political rights, and not about endless altercations, ego trips and senseless intrigues. A guaranteed democracy will serve the good of everyone irrespective of class or political attachment.
All democrats and stakeholders including the judiciary and civil society, should stand up at this point and do the needful by defending the Constitution and the democratic rights of the people. Nigeria have come too far to begin to go back to the days of military dictatorship and political intolerance.