Former President Goodluck Jonathan has criticised the deployment of military personnel for election duties in Nigeria, saying that it overstretched the military.

Speaking at the public presentation of a book by a former Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, in Abuja on Tuesday, Jonathan stated that elections should be primarily managed by the police and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

According to him, in most other countries, the Air Force and Army are used to transport election materials to dangerous areas, and not providing security at polling units as done in the country.

Jonathan said, “Having been the president of this country before, when you talk about internal security, it’s an area that touches my heart. And especially when you talk about election security, again, it’s an area that touches my heart. One gets worried when it comes to Nigerian elections.
“In fact, here we overstretch the Army. In most other countries, the military doesn’t get involved in the day-to-day management of elections.

“Some countries use them to manage strategic systems, such as transporting election materials to dangerous areas. But manning polling booths and staying around polling stations—military personnel are never used for such duties.”

Jonathan cited examples from Botswana and Senegal, where elections are conducted with minimal security interference, allowing the electorate to vote without intimidation.

He noted that in Botswana, police officers manage election security while the military secures government facilities, and in Senegal, polling stations are run by electoral officials with police stationed outside, intervening only when necessary.

He said, ” I just came back from Botswana some months back during the election. It’s a very small country with a small population, so almost all the police officers were used for the election.

“What the military does is that those regular duties that the police officers were doing, including securing the police headquarters, the military took over… So the military high command posted military officers to secure government assets and facilities.


https://punchng.com/jonathan-faults-military-deployment-for-elections-advocates-police-led-security/