Exposed: How Ibadan school secretly recruited students for PDP campaigns

 The teacher wearing a PDP branded face cap teaching students in yoruba " Ni Edi Bo Fun" roughly translating to "Mummy and Daddy should vote for PDP". This was happening at the Assembly ground.....

A video footage of a schoolteacher in Oyo state, Nigeria, telling students to sing a campaign song to persuade their parents to vote for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has gone viral on social media.

EXPOSED: PDP has resorted to using school children for campaigns #PDP pic.twitter.com/C1WBRIOgZs

— Newz Urban (@NewzUrban) February 19, 2023

 Development News Nigeria discovered the unidentified school in the viral video is Community Basic School Olosan in Alakia in Ibadan, the state capital, using Google Reverse Image Search.

Section 92 of the Electoral Act of 2022 states that "Places designated for religious worship, the police station and public offices cannot be used for political campaigns, rallies, and processions nor to promote, propagate, or attack political parties, their candidates, programs, or ideologies." Forcing students to serve as political campaign mouthpieces is in violation of this provision.

In fact, the federal government issued a memo last year that was signed by Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, the head of the federation's civil service, warning civil officials to abide by the Public Service Regulations as it relates to their involvement in partisan politics.

But, the Community Basic School in Olosan seemed unconcerned about breaking the rule of conduct to support incumbent state governor Seyi Makinde, who is running for reelection under the PDP.

According to Development News Nigeria when their reporter arrived at the school for further investigation the head teacher requested the reporter to leave and refused to speak to him about the situation. Parents of some students who spoke with our correspondent, however, denounced the teacher's alleged use of their kids as campaign props. One of the students' parents, Olarenwaju Ajoke, a petty trader, expressed her embarrassment at the school's behavior and stated the students had no choice but to follow their teachers' orders.

Adisa Oloku, a parent, agreed with Olanrewaju that it was not advisable to involve small children who have not yet learned to distinguish between their right and left in such a procedure, adding that "it may harm them later in the future."

Toyin Adio, a local, made the observation that sending children to school to learn was the primary motivation for doing so rather than running for office.

She said that it was improper to politicize the school since doing so could result in future problems and give other political parties in the state the incentive to engage in such bad behavior.

It’s Even Morally Wrong”

Children should not be put to "this type of nasty, hypocritical process," according to Ebenezer Omejalile, Chief Operating Officer of Advocates for Children and Vulnerable People Network.

He advised the Quality Assurance Unit of the Oyo State Ministry of Education to avoid being politicized and emphasized the importance of providing civic education as part of the school curriculum for the students.

The moderator and her colleagues' lack of education was evident in this video clip, according to Omejalile. "I anticipated that the Oyo educational system would promote political neutrality."

He noted that there should have been explicit guidance from the state's ministry of education explaining to schools about their current legal obligations on political impartiality, stating that such behavior by the school is a danger in waiting.

Political parties should not conduct their campaigning in schools, said Abideen Olasupo, executive director of Brain Builders and Youth Development Initiative.

Olasupo asserted that INEC had provided instructions on "where and how they can execute their campaign, so taking it to the younger generation who could scarcely even distinguish right from wrong is a really bad approach and of course, it's even morally wrong."

"I believe it's condemnable, of course," he continued. When it comes to their guidelines, INEC ought to walk the walk. Errant politicians won't follow INEC's principles and directives unless they begin to impose sanctions.

Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Committee on Information and Voter Education, issued a warning to political parties and candidates in a recent interview with Development News Nigeria, urging them not to violate the Electoral Act's rules in order to avoid penalties as set forth in the Act.

Okoye emphasized that adherence to the law should be prioritized by all political parties and their candidates and that the Act already included punishments for offenders.

"A political party, aspirant, or candidate who contravenes any of the provisions of Section 92 of the Act commits an offense, and upon conviction, in the case of an aspirant or candidate, to a maximum fine of N1,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months; and in the case of a political party, to a fine of N2,000,000 in the first instance, and N1,000,000 for any subsequent offense," he said.