The All Progressives Congress Presidential
Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) has described
the idea of having military chiefs determine when
elections will hold as a mockery of democracy.
The APCPCO said this, Friday, in Abuja,
following Wednesday’s assertion to the Senate by
the chairman of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru
Jega, that service chiefs would have to ratify the
March 28 date for the presidential election.
In a statement by the organisation’s Director,
Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, it
called on INEC to take cognisance of the courts’
ruling on the role of the military in elections and
the military’s own commitment of its readiness to
deploy troops for the 2015 elections.
“The idea of placing the fate of democracy in the
hands of the military is not only alien to the
Nigerian constitution; extant judicial
pronouncements have clearly stipulated that the
military has no duty to play in the conduct of
elections.
“We are not comfortable with any attempt to draft
the military into election function and are
reassured by the declaration by President
Jonathan that the elections would hold as
scheduled by INEC on March 28 and April 11.
“We have carefully studied positions made by the
INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, on the
floor of the Senate on Wednesday and we want to
put it on record that we are not in any way
comfortable with the idea that service chiefs will
determine whether the March 28 date of the
presidential election is feasible or not.
“The concepts of democracy and the military are
never complementary, and to say that the military
will determine when an election will hold is
antithetical to the very idea of democracy. It is
akin to a coup against the people of Nigeria to
subject the fate of our democracy in the hands of
a few military service chiefs.
“For the avoidance of any doubts, the APC
presidential campaign organisation will not accept
any attempt to subvert the electoral processes of
democracy in the country.
“The Nigerian constitution is very clear about
how the electoral processes in the country should
be run and there is no single clause of the
constitution that makes the service chiefs to
preside over the conduct of elections.
“Furthermore, there are extant judicial
pronouncements specifically at two Courts of
Appeal, the recent being that on the Ekiti
governorship election that bars the military from
undertaking any role whatsoever in the conduct of
elections in the country. These are in addition to
a similar pronouncement by the Supreme Court.
“The only role that the constitution assigns to the
military is to protect the territorial integrity of the
country and not to determine if and when an
election should hold.
“As far as we are concerned at the APC
presidential campaign organisation, we are ready
for the elections on March 28 and April 11, and
INEC is ready as confirmed by Professor Jega
during the plenary of the Senate and Nigerians
are also ready for the election,” the statement
read in part.

www.informationng.com/2015/02/leaving-the-fate-of-elections-in-the-hands-of-the-military-is-unconstitutional-apc.html

Let me say this and am sure i am echoing the minds of millions of nigerians out there if i don't see armed soldiers patrolling my streets with their hilux van i am not coming to vote.

The police alone cannot handlethe madness and bloodshed that might happen when the violent and blood thirsty man loses again

Meanwhile GEJ till 2019

apc should just shut it, why are they making noise about the army if not they have perfected plans to waste souls as far as am concerned safety of the populace comes first and i see no big deal if the army are around to ensure the safety of the populace in this exercise. even there supporters would agree with me on this.

AND SENDING YOUR THUGS TO FIGHT, SHOOT, KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE AND DESTROYING GEJ POSTERS IS CONSTITUTIONAL ABI ?