There is a heightened security activities in Nigeria ahead of May 29, the day President Muhammadu Buhari is due to be inaugurated to begin the second stanza of his All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.
Buhari’s re-election is being disputed by his rival, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who is alleging electoral fraud.
Already, the Nigerian Army is alleging that some unpatriotic elements in collusion with their foreign collaborators are planning to derail Buhari’s swearing in on May 29 in order to scuttle the country’s democratic process.
The claim of the Army might not be credible. The opposition equally accused the armed security forces of partisanship during the controversial presidential poll last February.
Apparently not persuaded by the allegation, Chairmen of 75 political parties on Monday in Abuja, the country’s capital city, passed a vote of confidence on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, declaring that in spite of the challenges that rocked the elections, the electoral agency was able to score some good marks.
However, according to the Spokesman of the Army, Col. Sagir Musa, ‘’some of these mischievous elements thought that we would not have a safe and successful general elections but were proved wrong, hence they want to derail the scheduled handing over later this month and to scuttle the democratic process in the country.’’
Musa in a statement alleged that the unpatriotic elements plan to do that by causing mischief and exacerbate security situation in the country in particular and West African Sub-region, adding that the group is making concerted efforts to further induce ISWAP/Boko Haram terrorists and bandits with funds and other logistic supports.
‘’Their body language and unguarded utterances seem to be in tandem with above and imply tacit support for the criminals. For example, credible source has shown that some individuals are hobnobbing with Boko Haram terrorists, while others are deliberately churning falsehood against the security agencies with a view to set the military against the people and the government.
While warning them to desist as the consequences of their intended actions would be calamitous to themselves, he added, ‘’they are also demoralising troops and security agencies through false accusations and fake news.
‘’We also noted that foreign interests are also working assiduously to cause disaffection and divide the coalition Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to give room for the so-called Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP) and its defeated local franchise, Boko Haram terrorists group to resurrect.’’
He, however, expressed confidence in the Federal Government efforts at sustaining and reinvigorating the MNJTF to continue its good work, and also restated that the Nigerian army would not relent in clearing the visages and remnants of Boko Haram terrorists and their sympathisers.
Continuing, Musa said, ‘’the Nigerian Army is a stakeholder in our national security and sustenance of democracy in Nigeria. Additionally, we are making this statement because the military, particularly the Nigerian army has always been called upon to intervene in conflict situations in order to resolve crises in most cases when they get worse, while the public expect miracles.
‘’We will like to reiterate our unalloyed loyalty to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we are determined more than ever before, to continue to uphold the constitution and defend the territorial integrity of this nation from both external and internal aggression.
‘’Nigeria is a sovereign country with clearly established judicial system, therefore all aggrieved persons and groups should take advantage of that and resolve their differences amicably.’’
In the meantime, the political parties made their position known in a three-page communique endorsed by the Chairman of C4C party, Jeff Ojinika, Acting Executive Director of the Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA) Ms Faith Nwadishi, who are the co-organisers and the Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Chief Peter Ameh.
The event, which also featured a Special address by the former Vice President of Sierra-Leone, Alhaji Sam Sumana, saw the party leaders presenting a report of their assessment of the elections.
Each of the Chairmen and Secretaries in some cases pinpointed aspects of the elections that should be improved upon, even as they declared that INEC under Prof Yakubu had demonstrated readiness to conduct an election with world-class standards.
The Communique, which was presented by Ojinika indicated that the Party leaders are appreciative of the show of independence by INEC, which they said was reflected in the rejection of candidates of the ruling party in some states as well as the harassment and kidnap of some staff of the commission in some other places.
Welcoming participants to the event, Nwadishi, said that INEC as the umpire of the general elections proved quite independent in the way and manner it responded to the unexpected challenges thrown its way by the stakeholders in the process and other unforeseen circumstances during the last general election.
According to her, ‘’of note is how it bravely prevented the ruling party from fielding candidates in Zamfara in its determination to follow the rules no matter whose ox is gored.
‘’More crucially, on the ground, during election and voting day, it refused to be intimidated by threats and violence unleashed on its officials and ad-hoc staff leading to some certificates of return being withheld by INEC though this is now subject to litigations.’’
She further said that political parties must take internal democracy seriously to ensure democracy take proper roots in Nigeria.
While presenting the Communique of a two-day Roundtable on election evaluation and reports presentation, the party leaders blamed security operatives, particularly the military and the police for some of the shortcomings witnessed during the election.
They also called on President Buhari to speedily sign the Electoral Amendment bill into law, to save the country from the challenges associated with the current electoral law.
The National Roundtable with the theme: ‘’The Role and Performances of Stakeholders in the 2019 General Elections, Issues, Challenges and Prospects’’, was chaired by Prof Remi Aiyede of the Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan and was moderated by Prof. Anthony Olusanya of the Osun State University.
Also in attendance were leaders of civil society organisations, security agencies and representatives of IN
