Like a lone voice in the midst of those who have raised a chorus against military involvement in the 2019 election, he argues that the military acted within the law. Reminded that the job of the military is to protect the territorial integrity of the nation from external aggression, he asked why soldiers are being used in internal fight against herdsmen, Boko Haram, bandits in Zamfara, IPOB, etc.YOU can take Boko Haram out of internal security because it is terrorism.
So that is also part of the role of the military. As for their part in the elections, INEC clearly stated that the military will not be engaged anywhere near polling stations or polling booths; and in fact, unlike in previous elections, they did not even use the national assets of the military, including military aircraft, marine services, or even for escort; they left that to the police.
However, we also heard the President saying that ‘look, we are going to take serious action against people who would want to scuttle our democracy by ballot box-snatching and others. Now, if it will take the military to ensure that hoodlums and thugs do not disrupt the election, will that be in order?I’ll come to that. Have you read the previous reports on Nigeria Police and elections? Go back to 2007 elections and what they said was that policemen were seen thumb-printing ballot papers.
I have seen a lot of reports of civil society organisations, both local and international, talking about militarisation, it is a cliché. If they were not going to snatch ballot boxes or take part in electoral malpractice, what is their problem with the military? You go from Point A to Point B, you have a valid voter’s card, I don’t think you will have any issue.