Political parties and civil society organisations (CSOs) have called for the removal of identified obstacles to free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria ahead of the general elections in 2023.
They particularly warned the Nigerian military not to interfere in the 2023 general elections.
According to the groups, if the Nigerian military keeps interfering in the country’s electoral process, it will affect the integrity of the ballot.
This is just as the the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has called for the establishment of Electoral Offences Commission to deal with perpetrators of election violence, vote buying and other infractions.
LEADERSHIP recalls that following the governorship election in Ekiti State where allegations of vote buying were rife – just like in the primary elections in the two leading parties in the country – INEC came out to identify vote buying and insecurity as major challenges toward the conduct of clean polls in the country.
The CSOs spoke in the aftermath of a training carried out by the Nigerian military for its personnel that will participate in the 2023 general elections.
Speaking on behalf of political parties in Nigeria, the chairman, Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC), Yabagi Sani, said election is a civil matter; military men must not be involved.
“Election is a civil activity. Police are normally the arm of the security agencies given the mandate to protect lives and property.
“So, the only time you call in the military is when you have external aggression. They are supposed to protect the sovereignty of the country against external aggression,” Sani said.
The military, he stated, has no role to play in the 2023 general elections, but the police must be given their rightful place to play their role.
“Unless the military is telling us there is an external aggression, that is why they are training themselves. If it is that, then they are in order but they should not interfere in the 2023 elections,” the IPAC chairman added.
Also, some CSOs in the country have warned the military to stay off the 2023 general elections, adding that their involvement will affect the integrity of the election and scare voters from participating.
The CSOs that spoke to LEADERSHIP are: Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) Transparency International (TI) and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).
Speaking through their leader, Awwal Musa Rafsanjani, the CSOs said their concern arose from the 2019 general elections where the military was involved in the elections, adding that if military men keep interfering in the election, it will scuttle the nation’s democracy.
“We have expected that the military should maintain their professional responsibility. The police, Civil Defence and other paramilitary agencies have not complained that the situation is out of hand and need support.
“It is important that the military should not continue to compromise the integrity of democracy and freedom of choice by hiding under some political parties or candidates.
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“It is the constitutional responsibility of the military to protect the country from external aggression. You have no reason to come and take over the role of the police and other paramilitary agencies because they are not complaining that things are out of hand,” Rafsanjani said.
According to him, “The involvement of the military in the 2023 election will further show lack of freedom for Nigerians to exercise their rights.
“The involvement of the army in the 2023 general elections will be viewed as an attempt to rig the election.
“The pronouncement of the army in the 2019 election affected the credibility of that election. So, let them not repeat the same thing now. The military has no business in elections except if there is a need for them to come in. But for now, there is no need for them to come in,” Rafsanjani said.
Army, Electoral Offences Commission Critical For Successful Elections – INEC
Meanwhile, INEC has said it requires the cooperation of the Nigerian Army and other sister security agencies in carrying out its mandate, under the aegis of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The nation’s electoral body disclosed this while reacting to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Faruk Yahaya’s directive that all general officers commanding, corps commanders, commanders of theatres of operations, brigade and other formation commanders must remain apolitical while ensuring that troops under their command comply with the directive.
Speaking exclusively with LEADERSHIP in Abuja, the chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi said the Army is a critical part of the security architecture that the Commission partners for the conduct of elections.
Oyekanmi said the Army will take charge of the exit and entry points in Ekiti State and undertake any other assigned tasks during the governorship election scheduled for Saturday 18th June, 2022.
“The Nigerian Army is thus critical to the electoral operations of the Commission,” he said.
On the issue of insecurity and vote-buying, INEC has canvassed the establishment of Election Offences Commission to deal with electoral offenders.
Speaking in a forum organised by a group, Electoral Hub, in April last year, INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu urged Nigerians to apply pressure on the National Assembly to ensure speedy passage of the Electoral Offenses Commission Bill.
Just like the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) is solely committed to dealing with financial crimes, the Electoral Offenses Commission would be saddled with the task of arresting and prosecuting electoral offenders, including those involved in election violence and vote-buying.
LEADERSHIP reports that the National Assembly passed the Bill in July 2021 and many groups and individuals have urged President Buhari to not only assent to the bill but allocate adequate resources to set up the commission well ahead of the general election to deal with those intent on scuttling INEC’s and Nigerians’ quest to have free, fair and credible polls in 2023.
