FEDERAL HIGH COURT BARS USE OF SOLDIERS IN ELECTIONS.

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ruled that the Nigerian Armed Forces have no role in the conduct of elections in the country.

The court relied on a recent Court of Appeal ruling that barred the use of soldiers in the conduct of elections, stating that it was a violation of Section 217(2)(c) of the Constitution and Section 1 of the Armed Forces Act.

The appellate court had also relied on a judgment by a Federal High Court in Sokoto last January also barring the use of armed forces in the conduct of elections.

The latest ruling says the Nigerian government should not deploy soldiers at polling units, a plan that had generated controversy between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC.