. Police deploy 12,000; IGP vows to deal with trouble makers
. 8433 INEC staff for poll
After weeks of intense campaign that occasionally turned murky, thousands of voters will today troop out across Ekiti State to elect a governor among the 18 candidates jostling for the position.
Determined to make the Ekiti governorship election one of the best, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has deployed a total of 8,433 staff to conduct the election.
About 12,000 policemen are providing security for the election while hundreds of soldiers have also been deployed to ensure that the election is hitch free.
In practical terms, today’s contest is expected to be a straight fight between two candidates – incumbent governor Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress and Ayodele Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The Independent National Electoral Commission spent most of yesterday moving both sensitive and non-sensitive materials to electoral offices in all the local government areas of the state.
The materials were moved amidst tight security and in the presence of political party agents.
Heavy presence of the military and other security operatives which was noticed in Ado-Ekiti and other key towns in the state early this week continued for most of yesterday.
The heavy security presence has virtually paralyzed economic and social activities in the state.
According to the police, no fewer than 12,000 armed and regular policemen have been deployed in the state for today’s election. There is also a large number of military and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp operatives at check points across the state.
Apart from the armed policemen patrolling the streets, a number of police helicopters were also hovering over the city as surveillance.
Ekiti police promise tight security…
Ikechukwu Aduba, Commissioner of Police (Election), Ekiti State Command said: “All the security agencies are one and indivisible entity for the purpose of realizing the mandate of ensuring peaceful election in the state. We have deemed it necessary to inform the general public about some of the measures that have been put in place for the purpose of this election, which include, massive deployment of personnel and logistics to provide security at the 2,195 polling units in the state.
“While specialized units are strategically positioned to swiftly respond to any breach of peace, the military have been deployed to man all the entry/exit routes in and out of the state and to form a ring around the state. Nobody, no matter the status, will be allowed to move about with security personnel. All orderlies, ADCs and Chief details have been withdrawn.
“Security personnel not assigned for election duty have been warned to stay away in their own interest. Movement restriction commences from 6:00am and ends by 8:00pm on Election Day -Saturday. People are advised to cast their votes and go back home. However, if they choose to stay, the mandatory 300 meters from the polling areas should be strictly observed.
“No government (local state or federal) vehicle will be allowed to move about under the guise of monitoring election. No agent will be allowed to bring any party logo, insignia, etc to the polling area. We have placed the entire sister agencies on the red alert, and have rolled out a contingency plan to contain any form of upheaval in the state.”
16 INEC commissioners for election…
Meanwhile, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Ekiti State, Alhaji Halilu Pai said 16 INEC commissioners had been deployed to help in conducting an acceptable election that would be a pride of all.
Pai who spoke at a press conference assured that the results of the election would be announced in Ekiti contrary to fear that it would be announced in Abuja.
He said the Commission had made adequate preparations for a hitch-free election, assuring that the INEC would have a good and meritorious outing in the poll.
Pai said a total of 1,900 local foreign observers had been accredited for the election, adding that this was an indication that INEC has nothing to hide.
“We have received the sensitive materials on Wednesday from the Central Bank of Nigeria and party representatives escorted the materials to local government areas.
“These materials include the ballot papers and result sheets. They have been distributed. These centres are close to the units to make the commencement faster and to make election materials available to personnel on time,” he said.
The Ekiti REC said that additional 68 voting points had been established, thereby increasing the number of voting points in the state to 2,803.
“We have also entered into partnership with security agencies to protect our materials and help us achieve success in the election. With this high level deployment, I have no doubt that we will have a successful election,” Pai said.
Determined to make the Ekiti governorship election one of the best, INEC has deployed a total of 8,433 staff to conduct the election.
A statement from the commission gave breakdown of the deployment as follows: There would be a Returning Officer, 16 Local Government Collation officers; 177 Registration Area Collation officers; 20 Local Government Area supervisors; 177 Supervisory Presiding officers, 101 Registration Area (RA) Cluster supervisors/RA supervisors; 2,195 Presiding officers drawn from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and Federal Tertiary Institution (FTI); 2803 Assistant Presiding Officers I (NYSC/FTI); 2803 Assistant Presiding Officers II (NYSC/FTI), 140 Reserve (5%) for Voting Points.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Atahiru Jega and the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji Hussain Halilu Pai assured the citizens of Ekiti State and Nigerians that the Commission had gone the extra mile to ensure that the election would the best conducted by the Commission. According to the INEC Chairman, “We are looking forward to the best election. We however need the support of all stakeholders to ensure success. Contestants must not come with a do-or-die mentality. If they do so, the integrity of the election will be undermined.”
Fayemi vs Fayose…
Precisely, 18 registered political parties are expected to take part in today’s election, but the contest is expected to be a straight fight between Fayemi and Fayose.
Interestingly, Opeyemi Bamidele of the Labour Party gradually fizzled out of the game as the election drew closer.
In fact, while other candidates were making last minute efforts to position themselves, there were fears that at the last minute, Bamidele would end collapsing his structure into Fayose's structure to give the PDP an edge, a rumour the lawmaker denied till yesterday evening. Also yesterday, the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun held a press conference in Lagos and noted that with the trend in Ekiti State "democracy is in danger as Nigeria comes under creeping fascism."
He noted that the event of the final electioneering campaign of Fayemi “provided the perfect setting for the Jonathan-led administration to bare its fangs with a series of arbitrariness and unconstitutional acts that threaten the very fabric of our democracy, with several APC governors prevented from attending the rally.”
Sensitization programmes…
Prior to today’s election, several sensitization programmes were held by the leadership of the INEC in the state in conjunction with other critical stakeholders, including the Police, the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Immigration, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the NYSC, as well as the leadership of all the political parties.
Speaking at one of the Stakeholders’ meeting early this week, Jega promised to make Ekiti election a bench mark for all election in the country, noting that the election would be the best in the country's history.
According to him, each of the 16 local government areas would use customized ballot papers, with different coloured ballot papers and different ballot boxes affixed with serial numbers.
He said the new initiatives were designed to make it difficult for people to ferry such materials across borders, adding that even, where such happened, it would be detected, and culprits will be arrested and sanctioned.
Jega also said the essence of the new initiatives, was that apart from making such fraudulent act to be detected, the materials carted away would be useless to those that stole them.
Also, speaking on the occasion, the Inspector-General of Police boss, Mohammed Abubakar said: “On the day of the election, no politician will be allowed to move around and if you have an orderly or ADC, they cannot work.” He threatened that whoever breaks the law would be arrested.
He said he had given express orders to his men to apprehend any erring person, including the candidates and government officials.
“All persons, no matter how highly or lowly placed that are not indigenes of Ekiti State and who have nothing legal to do with the election should stay away in their own interest,” said the IGP.
Besides, he warned all ADC's, Chief Details and SSS men attached to top Nigerians not to attempt coming to the state or using cellphone to cause trouble on behalf of their principals.
"Whoever is arrested in connection with this election will be brought to my office in Abuja and will not come back to Ekiti until after sometime," he said.
Abubakar disclosed that his men would be dispatched to man every polling unit and collation centers. He pointed out that, no less than about 378 armed mobile policemen will be on standby across the three senatorial districts of the state to properly man the election. This number is among the over 12,000 Mobile and regular police men already deployed in the state for the election.
He added that, besides, detachment of military men will also be on standby, while helicopters would be hovering around as surveillance. While assuring the people that the security operatives were not out to harass, intimidate or molest them on any ground, Abubakar also urged his men to be civil in their dealings with the electorates.
Source: Thisday
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