21032019 - PDP, Atiku in post-election trauma, depression — APC

22—Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2019
•Military men blocking access to a road on election day in Port Harcourt, Rivers State
MILITARISATION OF 2019 ELECTIONS
•Excesses of overzealous soldiers
undermined credibility of elections
— CSOs, elder statesmen, lawyers, etc.
•Deployment of soldiers to secure
elections dangerous to our democracy
—Clement Nwankwo
•It is wrong to say electoral process was
militarised—Lt Gen Tukur Buratai
By Mike Ebonugwo & Charles Kumolu
ALTHOUGH the 2019 general elections
have come and gone, the jury is still out
on the question of whether the entire process
was credible based on how those assigned
different roles by law and the relevant
authorities conducted themselves. On the dock
are the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC; the different political
parties that took part in the elections, the
security agencies, including the Police, the
military and others.
But while some aggrieved parties and
politicians are already gearing up to contest
the outcomes of the elections in the law courts,
the major talking point in many quarters is
the involvement and conduct of the military in
the entire exercise. And the questions is: Did
the military interfere in the last electoral
process? In the court of public opinion
dominated by retired soldiers, elder statesmen,
the civil society, lawyers and religious leaders,
the military, especially the Nigerian Army, has
questions to answer with regard to the conduct
of soldiers deployed to security duties in parts
of the country during the elections.
In the front burner of public discussions are
eyewitness accounts and media reports of how
some overzealous soldiers acted in a manner
deemed to have undermined the credibility
and sanctity of the elections. They have been
accused of having in a show of brute force
invaded INEC collation centres in different
parts of the country, chasing away accredited
political party agents, election monitors and
news men. It was a development that was
confirmed by Mr. Edwin Enabo, INEC Head
of Voter Education and Information in Rivers
State. According to him, some soldiers
allegedly invaded INEC office on Aba Road,
Port Harcourt and soon embarked on a
partisan, selective screening of voters. This
claim of forceful interference of soldiers in the
electoral process was later corroborated by
independent witnesses in the state.
Some observers also said soldiers were also
complicit through
their excesses in the
outbreak of violence
that claimed many
lives during the
elections as was the
case in Rivers State
which has become a
sad reference point.
For instance,
according to the
Nigeria Civil Society
Situation Room,
headed by Mr.
Clement Nwankwo,
The
weaponisation of
the election and
abductions of
INEC staff and the
ad-hoc staff is
worrisome and
constitutes a
drawback to the
progress we have
made so far
no fewer than 58
Nigerians were reportedly killed during the
election, with Rivers State accounting for 30
of this alarming number.
Speaking as a guest on The Verdict,
Channels Television’s special broadcast on the
elections, Nwankwo specifically faulted
military involvement in the elections, especially
as it borders on participating soldiers not taking
directives from INEC officials. According to
him: “We went through 13 years of brutal
military dictatorship and we are at the point
today where for the first time since 1999, the
army is playing such an incredibly direct role
in our elections.
“Even when General Abdulsalami Abubakar
conducted elections as Head of State in 1999,
we did not have the military used in the way
it is being used today. This is destroying our
democracy; this is not the democracy that we
saw when we went to vote in 2015 or in 2011.
“This is very dangerous to our democracy.
If this country has to survive and this
democracy has to survive, then this country
must take a stand on what to do about military
involvement in elections. If the military is not
able to take directives from INEC, the law
should be amended to ensure they are
immediately removed from involvement in
any way in elections.”
Mr. Nwankwo was not alone in this
observation. Some other local and foreign
observers also passed a damning verdict on
the roles played by the military during both
the February 23 Presidential and National
Assembly elections and the March 9
governorship and state House of Assembly
elections, they said fell short of international
best practice. For instance, the unanimous
position of the European Union, EU, Election
Observation Mission Nigeria 2019; the joint
international observation mission of the
International Republican Institute, IRI; the
National Democratic Institute, NDI; Centre
for Democracy and Development, CDD and
the Integrity Friends for Truth and Peace
Initiative, TIFPI, in their preliminary reports,
was that the way the elections were conducted
fell short of standard in many respects, made
worse by the partisan involvement of the
military.
Partisan involvement
of the military
Speaking on this, the Executive Director/
Lead Observer, TIFPI, Livingstone Wechie
said: “TIFPI observed the alleged
involvement of men in Army and other
security uniforms in the elections in Imo,
Rivers, Zamfara, Kaduna, Akwa Ibom, Edo,
Ogun. The Army high command had earlier
assured that the military will provide security
and not interfere in the process.
“TIFPI observed the wave of men in Army
and other security uniforms who sought to
disrupt and indeed disrupted the election
process in some states and we opine that
there must have been also the use of fake
soldiers and infiltration of some of the security
formations. Hence, the Army authorities
should fish out any of its men that may have
interfered in the election in any of these states,
including possible infiltration in their circles”.
Also expressing deep concern over the
development, the British High Commission
in Nigeria had in a series of tweets decried
report of military interference in the election
Continues on page 23