Edo North Senator and former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has urged his colleagues and political leaders across the country to stop using unemployed youths as tools of violence during elections.
Speaking during Wednesday’s plenary in the Senate, Oshiomhole decried the growing trend of politicians arming young people to manipulate electoral outcomes, warning that the practice fuels post-election crime and insecurity nationwide.
He noted that after every election cycle, Nigeria experiences a rise in violent crimes because the same weapons used to intimidate voters often end up in the hands of idle youths who turn them against society.
“AK-47 is not like buying akara on the street; only big men can afford them,” Oshiomhole said. “After every election, violent crimes increase because politicians who procured weapons for hungry young people fail to retrieve them. Those weapons are then deployed for robbery and other crimes.”
The senator recalled a previous meeting with fellow governors where he had raised the same concerns, insisting that the cycle of electoral violence can only end when politicians take personal responsibility.
Oshiomhole also cautioned against holding presidential, governorship, and National Assembly elections on the same day, warning that such an arrangement could heighten chaos and confusion at the polls.
He further advised that as Nigeria adopts more technology-driven electoral processes, the country must remain vigilant against hackers and cyber threats capable of undermining credibility.
“The beauty of democracy,” he said, “is not in occupying high office, but in the genuine conviction that people, of their own free will, chose you to serve. If you rig or manipulate the process, deep down you know you can never truly be happy.”
Oshiomhole called on all senators and political leaders to commit to non-violence and resist the temptation to fund or enable thuggery during elections.
“If we, as elected persons, resolve never to arm or sponsor unemployed youths to disrupt elections—directly or indirectly—this problem will be 90 percent solved,” he concluded.
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