Osun Governorship Election Should Not Be Militarised - Friday, 08 August 2014 - By NLC President Abdulwaheed Omar NLC Press Statement - We are worried by the deployment of armed security men and women to Osun State as part of preparations ahead of the Governorship election scheduled to hold this Saturday across the state. We believe this cannot be helpful to the growth of any democratic culture as it portends an infringement on the rights of the electorate who may refuse to participate in the election as a result of the intimidating presence of armed security agents. More worrisome is the reported shootings across the state capital by officers of the State Security Services (SSS) shortly after arriving the state for election-related duties. We wonder why the SSS had to waste bullets shooting sporadically to scare residents who were not engaged in any form of violence at the time of the shootings. Inasmuch as elections are very important to any democracy, we caution that the state should not be turned into a war. We have had relatively credible elections in the past without a resort to over militarization. Peaceful elections are possible in any part of the country without armed monitors if political actors are ready to play by the rules. While we do not discountenance the importance of security for peaceful and orderly elections, over dramatization of the use of force and arms defeats the very essence for which security is needed. We dare say this road show may be more useful in combat zones with insurgents or armed robbers or even crude oil thieves. For the purpose of emphasis, there is little to gain from scaring away voters with gun shots. There is need for Nigerian democracy to grow but certainly not through the mindless and frivolous use of arms. Militarization of elections is antithetical to democratic ethos and norms. Accordingly, we advise our military, DSS and the Police high commands to ensure that their officers and men comply with all civilised norms guiding elections instead of wasting precious and expensive ammo. They are bound by law to respect the rights of the electorate. We similarly advise the political actors, their supporters and the electorate to conduct themselves within the limits of the law. Comrade Abdulwahed Omar President, NLC
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:36:31 +0000