The Senate has condemned the militarisation of the 2019 General Elections.
The upper legislative chamber expressed serious concerns over what it called ‘inconsistent application of electoral laws by INEC in matters of national elections’, even as it charged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the fourth version of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, which he had earlier rejected.
Adopting a motion sponsored by Dino Melaye (PDP, Kogi) and seconded by the Senate Majority Leader, Ahmed Lawan, the upper legislative chamber also directed its committee on Electoral Matters to conduct a comprehensive investigation into all perceived inconsistent application of electoral laws by INEC in the 2019 general elections.
In adopting the motion which attracted uproar from a few members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) particularly during the contributions of some Senators to the debate, the upper legislative chamber noted that there is an urgent need to institutionalize procedures and application of laws.
Captioned, “The militarization of the Nigerian Electoral Process and the inconsistent application of Electoral Laws by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)”, the motion was co-sponsored by Senators Mao Ohuabunwa (Abia North) Matthew Urhoghide (Edo South) Samuel Anyanwu (Imo East) Clifford Ordia (Eda Central) Ahmed Ogembe (Kogi Central) Biodum Olujimi (Ekiti South) and Obinna Ogba (Ebonyi Central).
The Senate said in coming to the conclusion to condemn the abuse of the electoral process by INEC and the military, it was “conscious of the need to grow our nascent democracy through the institutionalization of procedures, application of civil laws and the restriction of excessive use of military force in the civil affairs of the state”.
It also said it is “aware of the growing militarization of our nations electoral process, and the inconsistent application of electoral laws by the institutional umpire the INEC, especially as witnessed in the recent national election 2019, where the presence of the use of extreme military force akin to a war campaign was applied in electoral polling stations, and the declaration of ’inconclusive elections’, as a term. being used inconsistently, and partially at the whims of electoral officers in occasions that appear solidly as similar cases.
“This extreme militarization of a democratic electoral process, and the inconsistent application of electoral laws by INEC in matters of national elections pose serious threats to our democracy, and has security implications that must be nipped in the bud”.
Presenting his motion earlier, Melaye noted that the mess in the electoral process as practiced today in Nigeria is not part of the democracy that nationslists like Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ahmadu Bello dreamt of.
Seconding the motion, the Senate Leader said the essence of a legislature is to smoothen affairs of governance and pointed out that challenges of elections have been with Nigeria for a long time.
Lawan said the electoral process requires a lot of fine tuning noting that even the executive arm of government should equally be concerned.
His words: “Here we have an opportunity to discuss with INEC the challenges of 2019 elections and find solutions by way of legislative intervention.
“The electoral process remains a journey, it requires a lot of fine-tuning. We need to meet with INEC to get a panoramic view of the situation.”
Contributing to the debate, Senate Minority Leader, Biodun Olujimi stated: “We are Nigerians and we are in Nigeria. What is wrong is wrong. This election was a sham. INEC parameters were different in different states. There is no wrong that can validate the other. We need to look at our electoral process. Rigging and vote buying was the order of the day. The legislator needs to look into this.”
Olujimi’s comments attracted sudden uproar from some APC Senators who shouted on top of their voices against her choice of words.
Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki had to immediately wade in to calm frayed nerves.
When the question was put on whether the motion should be adopted, only a few voices were heard against it.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
