A
Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, restrained the Federal
Government from deploying soldiers for the general elections beginning
on Saturday with Presidential and National Assembly polls.
The court held that there was no part of the 1999 Constitution (as
amended) which empowers the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
and Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces to deploy military for
election purposes.
Trial judge, Justice Ibrahim Buba, also held that “it is
unconstitutional for the Federal Government to deploy military for the
supervision of election purposes without the approval of the National
Assembly.”
Delivering a jugdment in a suit filed by a member of the House of
Representatives and chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr Femi
Gbajabiamila, the judge declared the deployment of military for
election as unconstitutional.
Gbajabiamila, leader of opposition in the House of Representatives, had
gone to court challenging the power of the President to deploy soldiers
for the elections.
Defendants in the suit were President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief of
Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Chief of Naval
Staff and the Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister.
The judge added that a careful perusal and research into all Nigerian
laws would reveal that there was nowhere where it was stated that the
President could single-handedly deploy the military for elections.
In his argument, plaintiff’s lawyer, Mr Seni Adio had contended that
there were allegations and evidences that the military inhibit free
movement, free access and intimidated voters in states like Osun, Ekiti,
Edo and Anambra states where they were deployed for election purposes.
He argued that it was not ideal to deploy the military for the supervision of elections in a democratic setting.
However, in response, defendants’ lawyer, Mr Dele Adesina, SAN, argued
that the President, being the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces was
empowered under the Armed Forces Act to deploy military to maintain law
and order.
The deployment of troops, according to the defendants, was largely due
to the peculiar nature of elections and electioneering in the country.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja had recently made a similar pronouncement
on the role of the military in the conduct of elections, saying troops
ought not to have been deployed during the polls.
The appellate court had held that based on the provisions of the law,
the military had no role to play in electoral process, adding that
whoever deployed the military during the election in Ekiti State had
breached the law.
Soldiers on Lagos streets
Meanwhile, stern-looking and combat-ready soldiers were noticed
yesterday along the Boundary Market-Mobil Road, in Ajegunle, controlling
traffic on the axis.
One of the soldiers seen controlling traffic on the road, who refused to
disclose his name, said: “We are here to maintain peace and orderliness
before, during and after the election. Given the fact that Ajegunle is a
flashpoint for violence in Lagos, we are now on the roads to ensure
there is no breakdown of law and order by criminal elements on Saturday
and subsequently, if the army authorities insist, we still stay around.”
Other spots in the area where the soldiers were sighted were Achakpo
bus-stop, Okoya bus-stop, Itire bus-stop, Wilmer bus-stop and Tolu
bus-stop. These areas were considered flash points.
Ajegunle is a ghetto community that covers the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local
Government and Ifelodun Local Council Development Areas of Lagos State
where three army barracks such as Arakan, Ashanti and Signal were
located.
Residents who spoke to Vanguard said
the soldiers had been deployed to the area since Saturday, even as they
had a show-of-force physical exercise along the road that day.
According to them, since the soldiers arrived the area, they have taken over traffic control.
This development, Vanguard gathered,
has restored normalcy in the area, against the usual chaotic traffic
jam caused by indiscriminate parking by commercial buses and
motorcyclists (okada riders) in the axis, especially while trying to pick and drop passengers.
A resident, Wale Oke, said: “Since Saturday that these soldiers have
been here, the chaotic traffic build-up we have especially along this
Boundary Market roundabout has been cleared.
“These no-nonsense soldiers have cleared off all the danfo drivers and the Okada riders who park indiscriminately along this road to pick and drop passengers. This is a nice development.”
A newspaper vendor, who pleaded anonymity, described the presence of the
soldiers as welcome development, even though they (soldiers) have asked
them not to barricade the roads again to sell their papers.
According to her, “this road is usually blocked during morning and
evening peak periods and members of National Union of Road Transport
Workers, NURTW, and the Police are not helping matters. They pretend as
if they are controlling the traffic, but look the other way as they
(drivers) park recklessly along the road.
Confirming the presence of soldiers, Army spokesperson for 81 Division,
Colonel Mustapha Anka, said: “It is just a routine maintenance of
internal security. There is no cause for alarm and Lagosians should go
about their legal businesses without fear.
