You Must Not Deploy Soldiers For Election..Court Orders Military

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos presided over by JUSTICE Ibrahim Buba has declared as unconstitutional, the planned deployment of the military for the general election.
Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, a member at the House of Representatives on the ticket of All Progressives Congress (APC) had filed a suit to challenge the action of the Federal Government in deploying troops for the election.
In his ruling on Monday, Justice Buba averred that the Federal Government ought to have sought and obtained the approval of the National Assembly.
The court relied on a recent Court of Appeal ruling that barred the use of soldiers in the conduct of elections, stating that it was a violation of Section 217(2)(c) of the constitution and Section 1 of the Armed Forces Act.
In his arguments, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Seni Adio, maintained that there were allegations and evidences that the military inhibited free movement, free access and intimidated voters in Osun, Ekiti and Anambra states, where they were deployed for election purposes.
He further argued that it was not ideal to deploy military for the supervision of election in a democratic setting.
Adio added that Armed Forces Acts is subordinate to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and consequently urged the court to restrain the defendants from using military in the coming election.
However, in his own submissions, counsel for the defendant, Dele Adesina, argued that the president, being the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, was empowered under Armed Forces Acts to deploy military to maintain law and order.
The other five defendants in the suit were the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and the Attorney General of the Federation.
Monday’s ruling tallies with that of the Federal High Court in Sokoto, which had, on Thursday, January 29, 2015, outlawed the use of the military for election duty across Nigeria.
The court ruled on the lingering controversy and declared the use of soldiers as unconstitutional.
Justice Mohammed Rilwan Aikawa ruled that other than for the purposes of protecting the nation’s territorial integrity, no constitutional provision allowed for the deployment of the military for elections