The lawmakers had barely started the debate over the role of soldiers during the polls, before it turned sour, with members divided, perhaps along party lines, triggering a rowdy session.
The All Progressives Congress, which now has majority members in the House, had before now voiced their dissatisfaction with the intention to use the military for security purposes during the March 28 and Aprill 11 polls.
While the ruling Peoples Democratic Party have supported the deployment of the military.
Some of the leaders of the APC in the House passionately defended their stance on the matter on the floor of the House in what led to a heated argument with their PDP counterparts.
Nigeria’s election was postponed on February 7 by the electoral commission citing insecurity in the north-east and the need to ensure that all qualified Nigerians participated in the elections.
‘In A State Of War’
Earlier on Monday, The Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Professor Chidi Odinkalu, backed the call for troops to take charge of security to ensure peace in the forthcoming general elections.
Professor Odinkalu said “Nigeria was in a state of war”, which justified such an action inline with the Geneva Conventions Act”.
“People are not reading the full panoply of laws that are applicable. Part of the laws we have got to read, is the Geneva Conventions Act. It is applicable to Nigeria and that includes Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, with respect of the protection of the civilians in arm conflict.
“Now, in 2013 the international committee of the Red cross, which supervises the operations of the Geneva Convention, independently of the Nigerian government, determined that Nigeria was in a non-international armed conflict, that is a civil war,” Professor Odinkalu said.
He further stressed that in 2013, the office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court decided that Nigeria was in a civil war while the NHRC in 2014, also determined that Nigeria is in a civil war.
“We cannot in 2015 deny that Nigeria is a civil war. We don’t have the assets to protect all of Nigeria. If you were to deploy just the Police and the Civil Defence, let’s be honest about this. We don’t have the assets to protect all Nigerians in this election given the fact that we are in a civil war.
“It is the Commander in Chief and the Governors, who swear to protect the people and they will take responsibility for the lives of the people,” he said, emphasising that whatever decision that would ensure the protection of lives and property should be supported.
He said he would not vote in the elections if the military were not deployed on elections day.
The leader of a terrorist group, the Boko Haram, attacking communities in Nigeria’s north-east had threatened to disrupt the elections.
But, the military said it was committed to ensuring that it reclaimed some communities under the control of the Boko Haram members before the elections.
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