Ahead of Edo State September 21 governorship election, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, announced on Wednesday that 35,000 police officers will be deployed across the state.
Additionally, 8,000 personnel from sister security agencies, including the armed forces and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), will be mobilized to support the police.
He also confirmed that security aides assigned to VIPs will be withdrawn to ensure neutrality and security.
Egbetokun stated this at the stakeholders meeting as part of activities ahead of the election organized by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) where its chairman, Professor Mamhud Yakubu announced that former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar was already in town presiding over the signing of the peace pact between contending parties and their candidates on Thursday.
The event had the representatives of the 17 participating political parties, the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), representatives of the palace of the Oba of Benin, civil society groups and others.
In his remarks, Egbetokun also said the suspension of the activities of quasi-security organizations like the Edo State Security Network (ESSN) and others set up by the state government to check insecurity remain suspended and that they have no role to play on the day of election.
He said security aides attached to VIPs would also be withdrawn even as he reeled out the various election offences and warned that anyone caught against them would be treated according to the law.
According to him, “It is the responsibility of all stakeholders to ensure that elections take place and trhe security of all is the responsibility of the police and it will be supported by other security agencies to ensure safety. We understand the importance of our role in this election and we will ensure that everything is done in compliance with that.
“We will deploy sufficient personnel for the election. For the Edo state governorship election, we will deploy 35,000 personnel, there will be another 8,000 from other security agencies to complement us. We have undertaken several measures including a tour of hot spots, engaging stakeholders and operational visits and we will continuously engage all.”
He said all entry and exit points in the state would manned while movements would be restricted between 6 am and 6 pm and urged the political leaders to warn their members against any form of violence.”
INEC Chairman
In his remarks, Professor Yakubu said the Commission has implemented 11 out of the 13 activities on schedule and that “As of today, we have only two outstanding activities. These are the last days of campaign by political parties which, according to law, ends 24 hours before the date fixed for the elections i.e. at midnight on Thursday 19th September 2024 and Election Day on Saturday 21st September 2024.”
He said the Commission made some adjustments to the final list of candidates based on court judgements which included the replacement of the running mate to the candidate of the Labour Party and the National Rescue Movement (NRM) which he said could not file its nomination on schedule obtained a court order to compel the Commission to include the party on the ballot which now increased the number of political parties in the election from 17 to 18.
“Following the conclusion of the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Edo State and the cleaning up of the data, 184,438 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) were delivered to Edo State. This figure is made up of 119,206 new voters and 65,232 verified applications for transfer into Edo from other States of the Federation, transfer within Edo State, cards reprinted after corrections of personal details or the replacement of lost or damaged cards as provided by law.’
We have already published the details on our website for public information. I must commend all stakeholders in Edo State for the level of mobilisation for the voter registration and collection of PVCs.
He said the Commission has accredited 134 groups (124 domestic and 10 international) that would deploy 1,836 observers across the State and have accredited 114 media organisations deploying 721 journalists.
While calling on political parties and their candidates to restrain their supporters from any form of violence, he assured that the Commission was ready for a free and fair election in the state.
