The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday cautioned the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, to refrain from acts or actions that would suggest in any way that the military has become an arm of a political party.
The PDP said Gen. Buratai’s reference to its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as well as his threats to officers and ranks to carry out the unlawful order by President Muhammadu Buhari to participate in the electoral process was an aberration and a recipe for crisis.
The PDP stated that Atiku Abubakar spoke on the side of the law and
wishes of Nigerians and cannot be intimidated by any body no matter how
highly placed.
A statement by the national publicity secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said: “Gen. Buratai is counseled to note that the loyalty of the military is to
the state and that the president lacks the powers, under our laws, to
deploy soldiers for the conduct of elections.
“Our party urges Gen Buratai to concentrate on his very demanding
assignment of protecting the territorial integrity of our nation and
ending insurgency rather than dabbling into partisan politics at the
risk of our national cohesion.
It is imperative to state that by trying to drag the military to
participate in the February 23 Presidential election, President Buhari
plots to suspend our constitution, assume the position of an emperor,
trigger unrest, subvert our electoral process and derail our democracy.”
The party called the attention of President Buhari to the judgment of the Federal High Court, Lagos on March 23, 2015, presided over by
Justice Ibrahim Buba, which outlawed the deployment of troops in the
conduct of elections in Nigeria.
“President Buhari should also avail himself of the subsisting judgment of
the Court of Appeal, which on February 15, 2015, held that the President
has no powers to deploy soldiers in the conduct of elections.”
The PDP further counseled President Buhari and Gen. Buratai to “end their
rationalizing of military option, as the courts have summarily dismissed
their arguments that soldiers are needed to guarantee peaceful
elections.”
“It may interest President Buhari to know that the judgment was sequel to
a suit filed by the APC Leader in the House of Representatives, Femi
Gbajabiamila, seeking a declaration that deployment of soldiers during
elections is illegal and unconstitutional.
“In case President Buhari is not aware, as usual, the court directly
held that “the Armed Forces have no role in elections” and if soldiers
must vote, they must do so in their barracks.
PDP quoted the court as saying that, “The time has come for us to establish the culture of democratic rule in the country and to start to do the right thing particularly when it has to do with dealing with the electoral
process, which is one of the pillars of democracy.
“In spite of the behaviour of the political class, we should by all
means try to keep armed personnel and military from being a part and
parcel of the electoral process.
“The state is obligated to confine the military to their very demanding
assignment, especially in this time of insurgencies by keeping them out
of elections.”
The opposition party, therefore, contended that “the priming of the military ahead of the election, therefore, heightens the fear of plots by the APC to plunge our nation into crisis and use security forces to subjugate Nigerians, seeing that President Buhari has no chance of winning the February 23 Presidential Election.
“The PDP therefore cautions President Buhari not to allow his desperation
to push him to corrupt the patriotism of our military and use them
against innocent Nigerians, whose only demand is for a free, fair and
credible election.
We urge the international community to note the roles being played by
President Buhari, his Federal Executive Council and Gen. Buratai in our
electoral process.”
