Militarisation of Nigeria’s electoral process, worse than military rule - Afenifere chieftain
- An Afenifere chieftain, Chief Supo Shonibare, has decried the alleged militarisation of the 2019 elections
- Shonibare said a civilian leader engaging the use of force to keep himself in office is detrimental to democracy
- The Afenifere chieftain asserted that the militarisation of Nigeria’s electoral process is worse than military regime
Chief Supo Shonibare, a chieftain of the pan Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has decried the alleged militarisation of the 2019 elections.
In an interview with Vanguard, Shonibare, an active member of the defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) which challenged the military administration of former head of state, General Sani Abacha, said it is detrimental for a civilian leader to engage the use of force to propagate himself in office.
READ ALSO: Obasanjo laments over state of disunity in Nigeria
Legit.ng gathers that he said: “There is need to build up strong institutions for them not to be under the caprices of those in temporary power. Military can only exercise reasonable use of firearms because it will be illegal to shoot at unarmed individuals.
“If a civilian leader engages the use of force to keep himself in office, then that is detrimental to democracy.”
Shonibare asserted that the militarisation of Nigeria’s electoral process is worse than military regime.
In his words: “It’s unfortunate that the election was marred with allegations of falsification of result, not using card readers in some parts of the country, the militarisation of the whole process that appeared to be what we have not seen before.
“There were videos of military presence in most parts of the country. What does this portend on our democracy? Militarisation of our electoral process is worse than military regime because in military regime, it’s dictatorship. You tend to believe that your vote would count until you get a shocker.”
PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Nigerian Army pushed back against allegations that it engaged in partisan interference during the 2019 general elections.
The chief of Army staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, stated that the military was involved in the elections in a supporting role for the police.
Buratai further kicked back against the term, ‘militarisation’; stating that people were using the word without defining it.
NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!
What has changed in Nigeria since the last election? - on Legit TV:
Source: Legit.ng
