•Urge Parties To Play By The Rule Or Face The Law
•INEC Reassures Electorate On Readiness To Deliver Credible Polls
•Warn Staff Against Engaging In Malpractice

The Department of State Services (DSS) has called on the electorate and participating political parties in today’s re-run and bye-elections in some states in the country to be of good conduct during and after the exercise.

This was even as the Police have assured of adequate protection of lives and property before, during and after the exercise.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday reiterated its readiness to conduct free and fair elections in the affected states.

The DSS in a statement yesterday by its spokesperson, Dr. Peter Afunanya, tasked the contending parties to shun all acts capable of causing a breakdown of law and order. The Service also urged politicians and their supporters to adhere to the Electoral Act and procedure.

“Beyond the elections, the DSS enjoins citizens to be patriotic and loyal to the Nigerian nation. Public commentators, social critics and key players in the public space should consider the peace of the country over and above their personal or group interests.

“Similarly, the media, civil society and community based organisations are encouraged to shun divisive tendencies and fake narratives likely to undermine national order. It is unarguable that it is only if there is a livable country that individuals, groups or corporate bodies can pursue and realise their legitimate businesses and ambitions.

“The Service, therefore, advises those engaging in subversive endeavours or desirous of doing so to desist from such; consequently, it will not hesitate to bring defaulters, no matter how highly placed, to face the full weight of the law,” the statement noted.

It emphasised that the Service, in the discharge of its mandate, would work with INEC, other sister security and law enforcement agencies and indeed all stakeholders to ensure a hitch-free election.

“Additionally, it will continue to implement proactive measures to achieve the desired stability in the country,” the statement added.

Similarly, the spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, ASP Mansir Hassan, in a statement yesterday, said that the command has intensified security measures in designated local councils of the state to ensure hitch-free polls.

He listed Chikun, Igabi, Kachia, Kudan, Kaduna South, Kagarko and Kauru local councils as the flash points of the security operatives in their bid to ensure a peaceful conduct of elections by INEC.

Hassan said: “A complete restriction on movement will be enforced from midnight on February 3, 2024, to 05:00pm. However, essential personnel like INEC staff, election observers, medical personnel and accredited media are exempted from this restriction.”

According to him, the Commissioner of Police, CP Ali Audu Dabigi, has reaffirmed the Command’s dedication to ensuring a successful rerun election and urges the public, especially the political class and voters, to cooperate with law enforcement for a peaceful electoral process.

“He cautions against unauthorised presence at RAC Centres, Polling Units and Collation Centres, emphasising that individuals violating this directive may face arrest and prosecution,” Hassan said.

On its part, the Plateau State Police Command has disclosed that no fewer than 5, 000 police personnel have been deployed to the six local councils of the state where the elections would be conducted.

Speaking with journalists at the Command Headquarters in Jos, yesterday, the Police Public Relations Office (PPRO), DSP Alfred Alabo, said the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Okoro Julius Alawari, made the deployment.

He urged personnel on election duty to behave well, adding that they should not only be neutral but must be seen to be neutral.

In Enugu State, the State Police Commissioner, Kanayo Uzuegbu, yesterday ordered massive deployment of police operatives to ensure hitch-free exercise in the rerun elections.

He also ordered the restriction of non-essential and unauthorised human and vehicular movements in Igbo-Eze North and Udenu as well as Enugu South from 12 a.m. to 6 p.m. today.

Uzuegbu further ordered full enforcement of the directives of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, banning all security aides to VIPs and escorts from accompanying their principals and politicians to polling booths and collation centres during the election.
“This is in addition to barring state-established and owned security outfits and organisations like the Neighbourhood Watch Group, the Forest Guards, other quasi-security units and privately owned guard and security outfits from participating in the elections’ security management,” he said.

He reaffirmed the preparedness of the police and other security agencies in the state to ensure maximum security and safety before, during and after the elections, urging the electorate in the areas to massively go out and exercise their franchise without fear of intimidation or molestation.

The Commissioner also cautioned political parties, their candidates and supporters against conducting themselves in ways capable of contravening the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended) and breaching public peace during the elections, warning that anyone found wanting would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

He enjoined the citizenry, particularly the electorate and residents in the areas of the rerun elections, to “be law-abiding, vigilant and promptly report acts of crime and observed electoral offences to the nearest police station or call 08032003702, 08086671202, 0809880172, or 08075390883.

A total of 67,315 eligible voters are expected to participate in the re-run elections ordered by the courts. It will hold in Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency as well as Enugu Urban State Constituency.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Chukwuemeka Chukwu, disclosed yesterday that the commission was ready and fully prepared for a hitch-free exercise.

Chukwu added that INEC had taken possession of the sensitive materials for upward movement to the three local councils involved in the re-run elections.

He said the commission was in the last phase of the process of the re-run, with the ballot papers and results sheet in its safe custody.

The REC added that the commission had invited representatives of political parties and security agencies to witness the exercise for openness, assuring all stakeholders that the sensitive materials were intact.

He added that training, logistics, security and other arrangements had been concluded for the exercise.

According to him, all rules and regulations for a normal election would apply to the election.

“We have been working round the clock to ensure hitch-free elections by ensuring water-tight arrangement and meeting various election stakeholders,” he said.

INEC has also assured the electorate in Taraba State that the polls, to be held in 652 polling units in the state, would be free and fair.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Taraba State, Alhaji Umar Mukhtar Gajiram, affirmed the commission’s preparedness for the elections.

“We have taken all necessary measures at the very high levels to ensure that these elections go on smoothly,” Gajiram said.

He expressed confidence in the security measures in place, reassuring the public that efforts had been made to prevent any disruptions during the electoral process.

Gajiram urged the parties to strictly adhere to the rules, noting that, “it is an election and not a war.”

He encouraged voters to turnout in large numbers and exercise their right to choose their representatives.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ondo State, Toyin Babalola, has also assured that INEC would conduct a seamless and transparent poll during the bye-election into the Akoko North-East/North-West Federal Constituency.

Babalola disclosed that personnel of the commission that would be involved in the exercise had been sternly warned against involving themselves in any form of electoral malpractice during the polls.

Akoko North-East/Akoko North-West Federal Constituency became vacant after President Bola Tinubu appointed Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo as Minister of Interior.

The REC, who assured that the necessary logistics to ensure a hitch-free poll had been sorted, appealed to the political parties to eschew violence on election day.

She said: “Our level of transparency is going to be high with the utmost professionalism. Moreover, we have trained our staff, trained our officers and talked to ourselves and we will do it right.”

The Ondo State Police, on its part, maintained that its operatives and other sister security agencies would leave no stone unturned towards ensuring a peaceful atmosphere.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, disclosed that a sizable number of security personnel have been drafted to the constituency for the bye-election.

“Police operatives and other personnel from sister security agencies have been mobilised for the election.

“Parents are advised to warn their children and wards against fomenting any problem, as there will not be any room for violence. Also, anyone caught trying to cause any form of violence will be dealt with accordingly,” the PPRO said.

In Anambra State, INEC yesterday distributed sensitive materials to the affected council areas for today’s rerun election in Nnewi North and Orumba North local councils of the state.

Addressing journalists during the distribution exercise at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Awka, yesterday, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Queen Elizabeth Agwu, announced that the sensitive materials, including result sheets of all types and ballot papers were received and distributed for onward movement to the two council areas.

Agwu added that the BVAS machine and other items had been handed over to Electoral Officers, urging politicians to behave themselves.

He warned that enough security personnel had been deployed to provide safety at all the polling units and all the areas where the election would be held.

“We urge the electorate to come out without fear of molestation. We have completed 50 per cent of the work and are now ready for the election.

“We call on the ad hoc staff to be proactive to ensure a smooth process; there will be no movement in areas where the election will hold from half past eight o’clock in the morning when voting will start and half past two in the afternoon when voting will end,” she added.

The House of Representatives rerun election would hold across 21 polling units in the state, while rerun election would also take place in 16 polling units at Nanka in Orumba North Local Council to determine the winner of Orumba North and Orumba South federal constituency.

The election would also be held in five polling units at Nnewi, Nnewi North Local Council to determine the winner of Nnewi North and Nnewi South and Ekwusigo federal constituencies.

In Benue State, the Guma 1 State Constituency, where the bye-election would hold, is at the epicentre of the insecurity in the state. The bye-election would be conducted in the six wards that make up the constituency – Uvir, Mbabai, Mbadwem, Mbayer/Yandev, Nyiev and Mbawa wards, which the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Sam Egwu, said share 116 polling units between them.

When The Guardian visited the INEC office in Makurdi to ascertain their level of preparation for the election, the Public Relations Officer of the commission in the state, Mr. Terkaa Andyar, said the 464 ad hoc staff as well as the Ward collation officers who were sourced from the JS Tarka University, Makurdi, for the election had already been trained and were set to go.

He disclosed that non-sensitive materials for the election had already been moved to Gbajimba, the council headquarters of Guma, adding that the sensitive materials would also be moved today in the presence of all the agents of the five political parties participating in the elections.

The Benue INEC spokesman said that National Youth Service Corps members would conduct the election as Presiding Officers and Assistant Presiding Officers 1 while the commission would deploy its staff as Supervisory Presiding Officers.

He said that all was set for the bye-election, expressing optimism that it would be a hitch-free exercise.