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All Progressives Congress, APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu may have violated provisions of the 2022 Election Act that prevent candidates from insulting opponents during the campaign.
During the official flag of the party’s presidential campaign in Jos, Plateau state, on Tuesday, attended by President Muhammadu Buhari and other senior members of the party, the former Lagos state governor had used derogatory language to describe opposition parties and called out the parties and candidates “jackals, termites and dead fish”.
Tinubu uttered the words while urging voters not to vote for opposition party candidates at the rally.
Section 92 of the Electoral Code states: (1) “A political campaign or slogan shall not be tainted with offensive language which might directly or indirectly offend religious, ethnic, tribal or group sentiments.
“(2) Abusive, inappropriate, defamatory, or mean language, or insinuations or innuendos designed or likely to evoke a violent response or emotion, shall not be employed or used in any political campaign.”
As penalties for violations of these provisions, Section (7) of the Act provides that “any political party, candidate or candidate who violates any of the provisions of this section shall commit an offense and shall be held liable by conviction – (a ) in the case of a contender or candidate, with a maximum penalty of N1,000,000 or imprisonment for 12 months; and
“(b) in the case of a political party, a fine of N2,000,000 in the first instance and N1,000,000 for all subsequent offences.”
Tinubu, standing alongside his vice presidential nominee Kashim Shettima of Borno State, urged voters to “idiots, looters; We will never surrender to them (Nigeria) again to reverse progress, an opportunity for electricity to industrialize our country.
“We will never prefer the poor development party PDP to a progressive, future-oriented party APC.”
He again mocked the PDP, saying: “Tear, tear the umbrella. You have to sweep them clean.
“Away with the geckos. We’ll be there,” in an apparent nod to winning the 2023 presidential election.
He went on to say the opposition “are termites” who should not be allowed back into government.
“They (PDP) want to come back. Just tell them dead fish can’t be sweet in any soup,” referring to the PDP’s offer to return to Aso Rock after being ousted in 2015 and defeated in 2019 respectively.
The former governor of Lagos state had used similar derogatory language during the APC’s campaign for the August gubernatorial election in Osun state. He had said: ‘Don’t worry about the PDP and other mushroom parties – parties like Labour; they will work until they die. God will not make you workers.”
In September, the national chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, warned that “a political campaign or slogan must not be directly or indirectly tainted with offensive language” and must not use “offensive, intemperate, defamatory or vile language”. “ contrary to the election law 2022 as amended.
