A civil society organization, Election Monitoring Coalition (EMC), has commended the conduct of personnel of the Armed forces of Nigeria during Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The coalition gave the commendation in a statement by the Director, Monitoring, Bello Yahuza, and Director, Politics, Yewande Amusa on Monday in Abuja.
They said their team specifically went out to assess the conduct of the military personnel on Saturday and found them to have carried out their responsibilities with high ethical standards.
The group so said their investigation was premised on the promises by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, that the armed forces would remain apolitical.
According to them, Irabor also promised to ensure that the military will collaborate with the relevant security agencies in ensuring a peaceful election.
They said the defense chief also promised kept to his promises to ensure peaceful conduct of elections in areas with security challenges and ensure that the personnel plays an unbiased role.
The coalition said that the reports from different parts of the country indicated that the armed forces kept to their promises, saying the military was not only apolitical but also collaborated with other security agencies effectively.
“Generally, observers reported that the security personnel behaved and conducted themselves professionally.
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“EMC gave kudos to the Chief of Defence Staff for building a military force with enviable records, especially in conduct during the electioneering period.
“All those who made different insinuations targeted at the top echelon of the Armed forces before the election have now realized their error,” they said.
The Coalition commended the military for the peaceful conduct of polls in the North East and South East, adding that nobody thought it would have been possible in the two regions.
They urged the candidates in the remaining elections to play by the rule and accept the results in the interest of the nation.
“We note how troops nullified an attempt by terrorists to disrupt elections in the Mandara Mountains in Gwoza, Borno State.
“In Gombe, soldiers recovered two ballot boxes from thugs who snatched them from the Government Science Secondary School in the Jekadafari area of the state.
“Across the country, it is a story of professional conduct by our troops. This indeed is commendable.
“We want to say without any reservations that the Armed Forces of Nigeria scored almost 100 percent in the Presidential elections, and we're certain that they will continue like that in the March 11 elections,” they added.