Author(s) :

Auwalu Musa.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

The politicisation of the Nigerian Armed Forces represents a critical threat to national security and democratic governance. This paper examines the implications of the Nigerian Senate’s proposed amendment to the Armed Forces Act, which seeks to make military officers directly answerable to elected and appointed officials. The research is contextualised through the 2025 confrontation between the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the security officer attached to retired Chief of Naval Staff AVM AZ Gambo, a case that exemplifies the micro-level risks of political interference in military operations. The primary objective of this paper is to assess how political encroachment on military accountability affects professionalism, operational discipline and public trust in security institutions. The methodology is qualitative, relying on secondary sources, including scholarly literature, policy documents, news reports, and civil–military analyses. Content analysis was employed to interpret patterns of political interference and their implications for national security. Findings indicate that political actors’ informal interventions compromise military neutrality, weaken chain-of-command discipline, and risk transforming the armed forces into instruments of partisan interest. The Wike–Gambo incident demonstrates how everyday administrative disputes, if influenced by political authority, can escalate into security and governance challenges. The paper concludes that the proposed amendment, if enacted, could institutionalise political control over military personnel, with severe implications for national security. Recommendations include reinforcing legal safeguards, enhancing professional training, strengthening oversight mechanisms, and promoting transparency in governance. This research contributes to knowledge by linking legislative proposals, individual political interventions, and systemic civil–military risks, offering empirical and theoretical insights for policymakers, scholars, and security practitioners on preserving military neutrality in Nigeria. Keywords: Nigerian Armed Forces, civil–military relations, political interference, national security, military accountability, FCT land dispute

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