INEC, security agencies plan hitch-free polls tomorrow
• Police deploy 46 special units to Rivers State
• No sacred cow, says Zone Six Police Command
• PDP warns against underage voters
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies have given assurances that tomorrow’s Governorship and State Assembly Elections would not contend with the logistic challenges which manifested during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
To that end, INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega yesterday ruled out the use of Incident Form as was done in the previous election, insisting that the card reader machines remain the best alternative for any credible elections in the country.
He said card readers helped in reducing electoral fraud, a development which he noted has necessitated the Commission to fine-tune errors identified so as to ensure rigging does not have a place in the electoral process.
Speaking at an INEC-organised stakeholders forum in Makurdi yesterday, Jega said over 100 international observers who participated in the elections commended Nigerians for their patience, resilience and orderly conduct, adding that President Goodluck Jonathan’s statesmanlike-acceptance of the outcome “The era of ‘I must win’ was over.”
Jega, who said a worker at the commission was burnt to death in Katsina-Ala, regretted that the state recorded the highest level of disruptions.
“It is for this reason and many others that I brought machines with me. We must use them on that day so those planning to resort to violence will not succeed because every vote must count.”
Asserting that tomorrow’s polls will be more credible than the Presidential and National Assembly elections, the INEC boss explained that he has a strategic plan for the success of the elections.
He assured that any staff of the commission caught compromising the rules would be made to face the consequences, promising to genuinely look into any petition or complaint raised against anybody concerning the elections.
In another development, INEC says it is collaborating with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to eliminate glitches and some challenges which could stand in the way of free and fair elections tomorrow.
Fielding questions on INEC’s preparedness, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Chairman of the commission, Kayode Idowu, disclosed that the electoral umpire has fine-tuned its MOU with the transport union with a view to address the logistics challenges which affected the distribution of INEC materials during the March 28 polls.
“The commission has fine tuned the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) it entered into with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to make sure that the kind of challenge encountered by the commission on March 28 does not happen this time around.
“Overnight camps will be available for men and material to stay close to polling units so that they can be easily moved to polling units on election day.
“Security agents are also being engaged to be available so that when the men and material are ready to move they will be there to also accompany them. Card readers will be deployed at every voting point. One each will be deployed per voting point,” he said.
Meanwhile, the management of the Nigeria Police High Command has deployed 16 Assistant Inspectors General, Commissioners of Police and 46 different Special Units to Rivers State because of its peculiar political controversy.
The Inspector General of Police Suleiman Abba in a statement from the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) Emmanuel Ojukwu, yesterday in Abuja said the AIGs are deployed to supervise the April 11 gubernatorial elections in some states.
They are Usman Gwary for Abia State, Olufemi Adenaike, Kwara; Mbu Joseph Mbu, Ogun; Patrick Dokumor, Kaduna; Tambari Mohammed Jigawa; Mohammed Abubakar, Gombe; Ikemefuna Okoye, Oyo; Jubril Adeniji, Bauchi and Yerima Irimiya, Imo State.
Also, Rivers State has Tunde Ogunsakin, Baba Adisa Bolanta, Akwa Ibom; Lawal Tanko, Lagos; Ballah Nasarawa, Benue; Musa Abdulsalam, Daura, Aderele Shinaba, Plateau and Bala Hassan for Sokoto State.
While the CPs deployed for election duties to states includes, Sam Okaula for Anambra State, E.J. Ibine, Ekiti State; Adamu Mohammed, Enugu State and Valentine Ntomchukwu for Osun State.
Other CPS have been directed by the IGP to “command each of the Senatorial Zones of the following states; Gombe, Bauchi, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Benue, Edo, Plateau and Sokoto.”
For Rivers State, which has become a major flash point prior and during the last Presidential elections, where even security operatives lost their lives, Abba directed that 46 Special Units of Counter Terrorism Units of the Police force should be deployed there to ensure that the elections are held under peaceful conditions.
They are: “32 Units of Police Mobile Force (PMF), 4 Units of Counter Terrorism Units (CTU), four from Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) and complements of intelligence officers.
According to the IGP, the deployments are in addition to the recent deployment of six Deputy Inspectors General of Police (DIGs) to coordinate Police activities in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
Abba had charged security operatives attached to political office holders not to escort their principals to election venues and to be more approachable, open-minded but unyielding while on duty.
He instructed the officers and men “to exercise a high sense of professionalism in their conduct on election duties as laid down in the Police Regulations and the Standard Operational Guidelines and take charge of collation centres, as the Police is the leading law enforcement agency.”
In an apparent reference to reports that political thugs had somehow, amidst the peace experienced during the Presidential polls, disturbed the process in some states, the IGP assured that the Police have new strategies to check the activities of troublemakers.
He warned: “Acts of impunity will not be tolerated. They would be made to face the full wrath of the law if caught.”
To ensure hitch-free elections, the Command has “identified flash points in some geopolitical zones.
Stern measures have also been mapped out to stop trouble makers in their tracks,” as anyone caught would face unpleasant consequences,” the Police authorities said.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on its part, has already deployed 150,000 of her personnel nationwide for the elections with the intention of providing the needed security backup for the Police and other security agencies.
The Corps spokesperson, Emmanuel Okeh in a telephone chat with The Guardian said: “Beside the huge number of personnel, about 80 surveillance vehicles and 300 patrol vehicles would be deployed for effective coverage of the elections.
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1 Comments
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We will review and take appropriate action.