Before the 2019 general elections, there were arguments as to whether it was right or wrong, for the military to be involved in elections, in this piece, Joe Chukindi looks at how they fared, after participating in the presidential and national assembly election.
In 2015, the then opposition political party, All Progressives Congress (APC) engaged the President Goodluck Jonathan government in a bitter war of words on how to keep the Nigerian Army away from participating in that year’s general election. It was such a heated argument to the point that the court was involved and a ruling obtained, and in the end the military was stopped from taking part in the election.
The fear of the then opposition party was that by involving the military, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party may manipulate the process, using them. The resistance of the APC then was on the grounds that the main job of the Army was to protect the country from external aggression or other matters that may threaten its sovereignty but very far away from election matters, which the police had not proven incapable of dealing with. On the other hand, the PDP govenment having also weighed the possibility of violence in the election, had sought to involve the military to assist the police professionally to avoid loss of lives in the election, but they lost the opportunity.
Fast forward to 2019, the same argument crept in again, but this time with greater support from well-meaning Nigerians. A rights group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, which also backed the deployment of troops by the Nigerian Army to stave off electoral violence in the general elections maintained that the Army also had a constitutional obligation to fulfil, so long as there are fears that the election may lead to loss of lives. HURIWA, in a press briefing held in Abuja by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said HURIWA took the decision to support military deployment in response to the death threat issued by El-Rufai, the Kaduna State Governor against foreigners. He said the proactive role of Nigeria Army is crucial because the army is a professional outfit and the Army chief is aware of the significance of his operatives working under the legal frameworks of adherence to rules of engagement and in absolute compliance to the provisions of the Nigerian constitution
The group said, “HURIWA has observed with monumental disappointments some of the statements coming from some office holders with regards to the election which is summed up as hate speeches. We note the threat to kill off foreign observers as made by the Kaduna governor and the unconditional backing of this despicable, reprehensible and hate-filled language of Governor Nassir El-Rufai by President Muhammadu Buhari. We totally condemn these statements calling for bloodbath during the election targeting foreigners as made by El- Rufai and the support of this satanic statement by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We support the pro-active roles of the Army as adopted by the COAS to stave off electoral violence. To that extent, we support the Army Chief and urge him to always maintain professional decorum and check any excesses on the part of his operatives that will soil his illustrious career. The Nigerian constitution authorises the military to play roles and the provisions as enshrined in section 217 (1) of the 1999 constitution goes thus: “There shall be an armed forces for the Federation which shall consist of an army, a navy, an Air Force and such other branches of the armed forces of the Federation as may be established by an Act of the National Assembly.”
On his own part, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Butratai promised that his men would maintain neutrality, while also threatening to punish anyone personnel who erred during the elections.
Buratai, during a visit to the Nigerian Army Corps Signals in Lagos to inaugurate some buildings while also attending the corps’ reunion party, said, “All officers and soldiers must remain apolitical and exhibit exceptional professionalism in the forthcoming tasks. You must report any unwholesome activities up the chain of command once it is beyond your powers of command. The full weight of the Armed Forces Act will be visited on any personnel found culpable of committing any electoral malpractice. We will support the Independent Electoral Commission, the Nigerian Police and other security agencies in concluding a successful election. We would like to further warn all officers and soldiers to desist from acts that are inimical to Service discipline and code of conduct and reiterate the Chief of Army Staff’s warning during his conference with General Officers Commanding and Operations Commanders that, All Nigerian Army personnel must remain neutral, non-partisan and transparent in all their actions.”
One leg of this year’s general elections has just been held, and unlike in 2015, the Army participated fully. Just like in 2015 when there had been opposition to the involvement of the military, many believe that a good look again at the involvement of the military would reveal that with professional conduct and proactive approach to violence, their involvement paid off hugely, just as their role in the election may have re-defined their role, and may just give the Army a permanent role in elections conducted in the future.
Though a report by a human rights group, Civil Liberties Organisation(CLO) has put at 35 the number of people that lost their lives in the presidential and national assembly election of 23rdFebruary 2019, but a human rights lawyer, Mr Fred Uchegbu, who spoke to our correspondent, said, “A good look will reveal that without the involvement of the military, the number may most possibly have gone higher. Save for few spots where politicians particularly engineered violence because of their interests, causing the military to weigh in, and also resulting in deaths, which is no fault of the military, the election and the involvement of the military can be said not to be too bad.”
In Rivers State, a clash between hoodlums and the military during the election had left two soldiers dead. This resulted in indigenes of the community; Abonema in Akoku Toru local government fleeing for fear of reprisal attack by soldiers. Attempt to reach the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Col Sagir Musa for reaction to the killing of its personnel however yielded no fruit. An indigene of the community, Mr Edmund Sunday said, “We have to leave because everyone is now in fear. But the incident that happened on that day was purely the fault of thugs. I think they were going somewhere, when they got to the military checkpoint called Samson Jack Checkpoint along Obonoma-Abonnema Road and opened fire on the soldiers, leading to the death of two of them. They even took away the riffles belonging to the soldiers”.
Speaking on the promise by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai to maintain neutrality and also stave off violence during the election, Uchegbu said, “On the whole, I think I score the military very high in their level of participation in the election. Even though there were news of violence across several states of the federation during the presidential and national assembly election, it would be noted that without the involvement of the military, the violence level may have shot up a notch. Especially in the northeast where despite the huge number of security deployed, the Boko Haram insurgents sought to disrupt voting process to the point of even attempting to stop a certain sitting governor from casting his ballot.
“Again, the major fear which was that the military may collude with the sitting president to favour him was made nonsense of as the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai kept to his promise of ensuring that his men were above board during the election. Though the election of 23rd February cannot entirely be exonerated from rigging, but such did not come from the angle of the military as feared previously.”
With the commendable performance of the Nigerian army in the 2019 general election, considering also the threat of insurgents and the high level of desperation usually expressed by politicians, which in most cases leads to violence, the military may have just secured a new duty in election conduct in Nigeria. However, pundits and rights activists strongly argue that elections is a civil matter on which civil authorities like the police should play a role and not the military.
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