The Enugu State House of Assembly has today, being 4th April, 2023, unanimously passed a motion of urgent public importance raised by the Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts and Anti-corruption, Hon. Dr Chinedu Nwamba.
Hon. Nwamba had prayed the house to urge the president to “investigate and cause an enquiry into the ignoble role of the Military in the just concluded Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Enugu State.”
Hon. Nwamba raised the concern about the fact that the constitutional provision for the roles of the military is clear as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. According to Nwamba, Chapter 6, Part 3, Section 217, Subsection 2a and 2b provide that the role of the military is to defend Nigeria against external aggression and maintain its territorial integrity, securing its borders from violation on land, sea and air. He therefore wondered why the military should meddle in the state elections.
Quoting extant cases restraining the military from meddling in elections, Hon. Nwamba said that the people of Enugu State woke up on the eve of the election to notice combat-ready, fierce-looking AK47-wielding soldiers prowl around everywhere, especially at the local governments in the state, with armoured vehicles positioned here and there; that on 18th March, being the day of the elections, the soldiers swung into action intimidating, arresting and suppressing voters believed to be PDP members. Nwamba decried the abduction of electroral officers, manipulation of results, denying PDP agents access to collation centre across the local governments;whereas, agents of other parties had unfettered entrance into the centres. He also condemned the military usurpation of the duties of the police and their brutalization and intimidation of voters, thereby paving way for the massive rigging of the elections, especially at the local governments.
Hon. Nwamba therefore prayed the house thus:
1. That this Honourable House urge the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mohammadu Buhari, GCFR, to cause an inquisition and investigate the roles and excesses of the Military and Security Agencies in Enugu State during the March 18 elections with a view to sanctioning anybody found wanting and to serve a deterrent to others.
2.That this Honorable House urge the National Assembly to confirm if an approval from her to deploy fully-armed military personnel on the day of March 18 Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Enugu State was given.
Hon. Nwamba’s motion and the prayers thereof were unanimously adopted and passed by the House.
