The Senator representing Ogun East in the National Assembly, Alhaji Adegbenga Kaka, yesterday, supported the deployment of soldiers for the forthcoming general elections.
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had, on Monday, ruled that President Goodluck Jonathan could not deploy soldiers without the approval of the National Assembly.
But Senator Kaka argued that the soldiers that would be deployed would complement the inadequate number of policemen that would provide security during the polls scheduled for March 28 and April 11.
The lawmaker made the observation, while speaking with newsmen shortly after commissioning blocks of classrooms and staff rooms he built in some parts of the state. They include the Moslem Primary School,Terelu-Imobi in Ijebu-East Local Government Area; Holy Flock Primary School,Odogbolu, Ansar Ul-Deen Primary School, Isara-Remo and Ode-Remo High School in Remo North Local Government Area;
Ositelu Memorial College,Ogere in Ikenne Local Government Area and St.Paul Primary School, Sagamu, Sagamu Local Government Area.
He noted that since the soldiers are also Nigerians who have wives and children, they would be circumspect in monitoring the security aspect of the elections.
Kaka who is also seeking re-election on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), said Nigerians should not entertain fears over the deployment of soldiers during the polls.
“Let me tell you something: soldiers are Nigerians. The suffering we are encountering, they are not immuned to that suffering. It is a public limited company (plc ) that is touching everybody. And poverty doesn’t discriminate between soldiers, the police, the common man, the doctors, the nurses, the market women. So, if poverty is staring everybody in the face, even deploying soldiers, I’m sure no sane soldier will carry gun and face his mother or his father or his own children.
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