Ahead the forthcoming general election, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Suleman Abba, on Thursday, warned politicians and their agents against the announcement of parallel election results different from those of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Abba, who gave the warning in Abuja, while speaking at the national briefing of accredited observers for the general election, organised by INEC declared that anybody caught flouting the warning would be treated like a criminal.
The police chief disclosed that the warning became necessary following threats in some quarters by certain politicians to declare their own results, if what INEC announced were not favourable to their party.
According to him, “we have heard that some people are threatening to declare election results different from those of INEC, we hope it is not true, they should not try it, but where they don’t heed the appeal, the police will act within the law of the land to protect the electoral process.”
Abba declared that the ideal thing to do, according to the law of the land, was for those not satisfied with election results declared by the INEC, should go to election petition tribunals or court of law to present their cases for adjudication.
“If you don’t accept the declared results by INEC, the best way is to proceed to the tribunal. In a civilised society, they don’t take the law into their hands but resort to tribunals, the refusal to accept the results and resort to extra judicial activities is a threat to the electoral process,” he said.
Abba, however, appealed to those who have no believe in the judiciary to have a rethink, saying, “You are causing apprehension.”
He assured the public that the police would be loyal to the country and the constitution of the land before, during and after the elections.
Abba condemned the recruitment of miscreants by politicians to pursue their political ambitions, pointing out that in some cases; arms were procured by the political class and made available to thugs for electioneering campaign
“We have arrested thousands of political thugs, we have recovered hundreds of fire arms from them,” he stated.
While identifying delay in the provision of electoral materials, lateness in the commencement of voting, rigging and manipulation of results as threats to electoral process,Abba urged the commission to avoid delay and fasten the process of accreditation on election days.
Abba, who canvassed for one agent per political party at a polling unit, urged voters to leave the polling units after casting their vote, in order not to contravene Section 129 of the Electoral Act.
According to him, “there is likelihood you will commit offence if you remain at the polling unit, if you remain there, the law say you should be orderly.”
“The Police will be impartial,the security agencies have pulled resources together to cover all polling units across the country, at least 2 to 3 personnel will cover each polling unit,there will be adequate security at all the polling zones and the collation centres before,during and after the polls”,he assured .
…….JEGA
Speaking at the occasion; INEC Chairman,Professor Attahiru Jega counselled the over 100 Observers (comprising domestic and foreign) not to make judgment but go to the field and make their reports available to the Commission.
Jega, who drew line between election monitor and observer noted that “an election monitor is an integral part of the election management structure and has a role in the administration of the election. In Nigeria, only the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) and its duly authorized personnel are empowered to monitor elections.
According to him,”an Observer on the other hand does not have any role in the administration of the election nor any control or oversight functions”.
While assuring that the March 28 and April 11 elections would hold as scheduled,he said, “I am aware that there are still lingering concerns on whether the elections will hold or not. Let me say that I do not see any indication from any quarters of any wish to further postpone the elections”.
Jega explained that after the rescheduling of the elections, the Commission met, reviewed the situation and decided on how best to utilise the six-week extension to add value to operational and logistical preparations for the elections.
The highlights of the decisions, according to Jega which are already being implemented include;field Evaluations, Headquarters Evaluations, a meeting of the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Elections Security (ICCES), field demonstration of the Card Reader were held in all Polling Units in sampled Wards in 12 states, 2 from each of the 6 geo-political zones.
Others steps taken according are; a meeting of the Commission with Resident Electoral Commissioners held to review progress of additional things done and to finalize arrangements for the March 28 and April 11 elections.
He said prioritised areas of focus for the six-week period of extension were collection of PVCs, the period for the collection was first extended by 4 weeks to March 8, and subsequently further extended to March 22.
According to him,”We have been making every effort to ensure that the maximum numbers of voters possible collect their PVCs before the elections, we have also been providing regular updates to the public on various aspects of the collection, particularly the rate and distribution of collection”.
“We are glad that these efforts have yielded fruits, with PVCs collection increasing to a national average of over 81% in the last four weeks”,he added.
Culled from Nigerian Tribune