A court in Lagos has ruled that soldiers would not be allowed at polling booths during the upcoming general elections.
Court bars soldiers from polling stations
The Federal High Court reached the decision on Monday, March 23, and restrained President Goodluck Jonathan from using the military to supervise the polls.
Nigerian soldiers
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The Federal High Court reached the decision on Monday, March 23, and restrained President Goodluck Jonathan from using the military to supervise the polls.
In reaching the judgment, Justice Ibrahim Buba decided that it was unconstitutional to use the military for elections without the approval of the National Assembly.
The case was filed by Femi Gbajabiamila, a member of the House of Representatives representing Surulere Federal Constituency 2 under the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC).
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The defendants in the case are President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and the Attorney General of the Federation.
Gbajabiamila’s lawyer, Seni Adio, argued that it was not ideal to deploy soldiers to supervise elections in a democracy.
APC Presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari had warned Jonathan against the deployment of soldiers but Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State had responded that it was well within the President’s constitutional rights to deploy soldiers anywhere he willed.
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![Polling clerks counted votes at a polling station after completing the voting process of the general election in Abuja, Nigeria, on February 25, 2023. [Getty Images]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'172'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "Polling clerks counted votes at a polling station after completing the voting process of the general election in Abuja, Nigeria, on February 25, 2023. [Getty Images]")