In this piece, SAMUEL OGIDAN writes on the bickering over the deployment of military in the forthcoming elections
The deployment of military in elections has become an issue in the nation polity. While some political parties and some stakeholders described it as a welcome development, others seen it as a ploy to rig and manipulate elections.
The issue took another dimension recently when it was cited among other reasons why the February elections should be postponed.
The earlier date for the elections were February 14 and 28 respectively, but because of the observation and advise from National Security Adviser (NSA) and the military top hierarchy
that soldiers would not be on ground to provide security during the poll as a result of the security challenges in the North-east part of the country, the elections were postponed to March 28 and April 11 respectively.
However, Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose, captured the essence of the controversy trailing the deployment of military on Monday when he said if opposition wins an election, the use of military was good, but when revise is the case, the military was used to rig the election.
The fear in some quarters especially in the camp of All Progressives Congress (APC) was that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may use the military to rig the election, hence the court case instituted by the opposition to stop the use of military in this forthcoming elections.
Reacting to the court case by the APC, the PDP said that the opposition has a hidden agenda.
APC, it was noted was not the only one opposing the use of army, the Northern leaders had pointed out that the use of army was a ploy to subvert the will of the people.
However, the military was commended for its role it played during the Ondo, Edo, Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states elections. While APC won Osun and Edo, PDP won Ekiti, while All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) won Anambra and Labour Party won Ondo respectively.
The APC had recently
written a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan and the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, notifying them to obey the court judgment barring the involvement of military personnel in the forthcoming general elections.
The letter, according to report was written by the Director, Legal Services of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume (SAN), and was addressed directly to Jega, but copies of the letter were made available to President Jonathan, the National Security Adviser, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff and the National Chairmen of the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
APC, in the letter dated February 16, 2015, called the attention of the federal government to a judgment delivered on January 29, 2015 by Justice R.M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court, Sokoto and another by the Court of Appeal, Abuja, on February 16, 2015 which overruled the use of military in elections.
The letter read in parts, “I am sure all well-meaning Nigerians share your deep seated concern on the militarisation of our elections.
“It is therefore imperative your good office and commission ensure, henceforth, and until there is an enabling Act of the National Assembly, the court orders are obeyed and armed forces personnel are never again deployed in any form of security supervision of our elections.”
Justice Aikawa of the Federal High Court in his judgment on the suit marked: FHC/S/CS/29/2014 among others, restrained the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and INEC “from engaging the service of the Nigerian armed forces in the security supervision of elections in any manner whatsoever in any part of Nigeria, without the Act of the National Assembly.”
Justice Abdul Aboki, in his lead judgment in the Ekiti State Governorship Election appeal on February 16, held that “even the President of Nigeria has no powers to call on the Nigerian armed forces and to unleash them on peaceful citizens, who are exercising their franchise to elect their leaders.”
“Whoever unleashed soldiers on Ekiti State, disturbed the peace of the election on June 21, 2014; acted in flagrant breach of the constitution and flouted the provisions of the Electoral Act, which required an enabling environment by civil authorities in the conduct of elections,” the letter stated.
Suspecting the motive behind the court case, PDP Deputy National Chairman, Uche Secondus accused the opposition of nursing a hidden agenda in their agitation against the use of military for the general elections.
Secondus, who noted that the military as deployed in previous elections did not participate in the election process, warned that those who are kicking against the use of the military at this time of insecurity are agents of destabilisation.
He said: “I believe that it is not the first time the country has deployed military to safeguard not to conduct elections because if you see what happened in Ekiti State, the military was put at strategic positions in case there was uprising or thuggery. And that is what it is supposed to be.
“Whoever is afraid of security, whether army and police and wants to have their own private army to conduct the elections is the one that wants to throw this country into crisis and thereby destabilise the nation. Don’t forget America had predicted that there will not be a country in 2015 but God forbid.
“The PDP will support the government to make sure that they protect lives and property. Remember what happened in the first republic. No one was ready then but we have moved further, we have advanced now. The APC alleged that army was used in Ekiti, but the army was never used to rig election in Ekiti.
“And the report from the monitors shows that the election was free and transparent, the military were never found at the polling booth. They were strategically deployed for the unforeseen.”
Also kicking against the move by the APC to stop military deployment in elections through court, the Director of Media and Publicity of PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode said such action was a desperate move to undermine security of lives and property in the course of the forthcoming March 28 and April 11 general elections.
He however explained that to avoid a repeat of 2011 violence, which happened shortly after the announcement of the election, was the reason why federal government must deploy soldiers to ensure peace.
“It is now very clear to us that the APC is determined to cause security breaches in the next few weeks. This has been confirmed by their vigorous campaign of calumny against the military and their consistent demand that soldiers must not be deployed for security surveillance at the polling booths in the forthcoming elections.
“The opposition party’s latest gambit of latching on to some footage of a purported meeting involving some of our party leaders in the South-west zone (amongst them Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro of Lagos state, Honourable Minister Jelili Adesiyan of Osun state and Senator Iyiola Omisore of Osun state) which purportedly reflected attempts to rig the Ekiti governorship election, is both petty and despicable.
“We witnessed the orgy of violence that they unleashed shortly after the announcement of the results of the 2011 presidential election.
We recall with sadness the massacre of some of our vibrant youth corpers who participated in the 2011 election as INEC’s ad-hoc staff in Bauchi State. We are concerned that the same thing may happen again.
“The PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation hereby declares unequivocally that the sordid killing of Youth Corpers or anyone else must not be repeated in the forthcoming general elections. It is for this reason that the federal government must deploy soldiers to ensure peace, stability and security during and after the elections.
“The attempt by the APC to discredit the use of soldiers by promoting some misleading audio footage of the so-called rigging during the Ekiti governorship election, in which one Captain Sagir Koli was the dramatis personae, is childish and absurd.
“The federal government deployed soldiers In the Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections and all those elections were devoid of violence. Remarkably, the APC won in Edo and Osun; APGA won in Anambra, Labour Party won in Ondo while PDP won only in Ekiti State.
“The basis on which the APC is agitating for the exclusion of soldiers from the election by sponsoring court cases is patently dubious and untenable. The reason that the APC and its leaders do not want soldiers deployed is to be able to intimidate voters and unleash violence on the polity once they lose the elections. They know that it would be far more difficult for them to do that when soldiers are on the streets,” he said.
Contrary to the position of PDP and Fani-Kayode, a cross section of Northern leaders had recently said that the insistence to deploy soldiers for election duties by the ruling party was a ploy to subvert the will of the people.
The Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmadu Coomassie, faulted the deployment of soldiers during the polls, arguing that it is aimed at rigging the election.
This view was also shared by Second Republic member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, Deputy Senate President in the Second Republic, Alhaji Abubakar Mamman Dan Musa and former Governor of old the Katsina State, Alhaji Lawal Kaita.
They argued that no section of the Constitution prescribes a role for the military in the electoral process.
Coomassie said that the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation was only afraid of the outcome of the presidential election, hence its call for the involvement of the military in the polls with a view to intimidating the people.
“It is not the responsibility of the other security agencies to maintain law and order in case of any eventuality during elections. It is the duty of the police and SSS. Therefore, until the police and SSS say they cannot do it alone that is when you consider the use of soldiers.
“Even at that, they are not expected to be at the polling units. So, those calling for the use of the military are only undermining the capacity of the police. It is the duty of the police to write to other security agencies if they require any assistance,” he said.
For his part, Mohammed, who is the convener of the coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, declared the planned use of soldiers during the elections as unconstitutional and irresponsible.
“Certainly, I am not surprised by the call, considering those who constitute the Jonathan campaign organisation. They think, in their own senses, that majority of Nigerians are in support of the President and as such, they can use that to intimidate everybody. But, as far as I am concerned, the campaign is not even on ground anywhere in Nigeria.
“They believe that because the uniformed men are paid by the government, they will definitely support President Jonathan, but the uniformed men themselves who I believe are not more than 500,000 cannot control 170million Nigerians, in case of any eventuality. Besides, there is no guarantee that everybody in the military and paramilitary is a supporter of the PDP or Jonathan himself.
“It is unconstitutional for the military to be used in the election process. Therefore, anyone claiming to be a democrat must also condemn it, because it is a plan to rig the elections.
“I am completely opposed to soldiers getting involved in our election. The rigging of election in Ekiti is still fresh in our memory.
“I am a democrat. I believe in the rule of law and also believe that democracy without the rule of law is a functional impossibility. There is already a ruling by the Federal Court of Appeal that no soldiers should be deployed for the conduct of the election.
“Even before the latest ruling of the Court of Appeal, neither the Constitution nor the Electoral Act envisaged any role for soldiers.
“The most honest and prudent way forward for this country and for the President and his party would be to facilitate the holding of honest and credible election – free of violence, free of any intimidation, free of rigging and free of any electoral malpractices,” he said.
Former Gov. Kaita lauded the recent court ruling precluding soldiers from any role during the forthcoming elections, and said the verdict was in tune with democracy, while Dan Musa said: “If there is no immediate threat to law and order, there is no justification for soldiers to be deployed in the election.”
With all the agitations, criticisms and controversies trailing the deployment of military, is the deployment of soldiers really for the interest of the nation or to subvert the will of the people? This is the question agitating the minds of Nigerians.