Major General Christopher Musa the Theater Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, , has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to come up with a way to allow troops to vote during elections in the country.
According to the Major General, it was impossible for troops to vote on election day as they were expected to be on duty. He said they should be allowed to vote a day before the election as done in other part of the world.
He stressed that soldiers and other security operatives were entitled to vote just like other Nigerians as he urged INEC to find a solution to the challenge.
In his words:
” Everyone is entitled to vote. It’s just that it’s not well sorted out in Nigeria. In some other climes, the military and security vote a day before everyone else. This is so that they will be able to concentrate on their duties the following day. If that is done for troops, it would be fine.”
According to him, the problem is that the army is always on duty when there is an election hence they cant vote. He called on the independent national electoral Commission (INEC) to get it sorted.
In an interview with a local newspaper, Metro Watch, Major General Christopher Musa said:
“I believe even the new system would eliminate so many fears of anomalies which cause inhibitions.”
Speaking on the ongoing military operations against insurgency, he lamented that despite warnings, some residents of areas that had been hit really hard with insurgency were giving technical support to the terrorists by supplying them with food and other logistics.
According to him:
“Some people still do business with the insurgents and this should stop. It is annoying. Those people are ready to buy a bag of rice for as much as N60,000 if they get their hands on it and we are saying don’t give them.”
“A litre of petrol can be bought for as much as N10,000 per litre. So, you can see the attraction a lot. They still rustle cattle and bring the same to our markets through third parties. We have seen women sneaking in with items in their body parts to go sell to them. All these are the challenges we want residents to stop doing with them. All those business people thinking they are making money, you are making blood money because they are using it to kill other people.”
