Politics
THE major election stakeholders’ meeting for the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti state on Monday ended abruptly following unruly behaviour by party supporters.
The stakeholders meeting had in attendance the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the Inspector General of Police, Mr.Ibrahim Idris, Candidates of different political parties, traditional rulers, heads of security agencies amongst others.
At the interactive session stage of the meeting, the representative of the People’s Democratic Party(PDP ) raised concerns about security ahead of the election. He alleged that members of the party are being harrased by security agencies under the alleged instructions from the All Progresses Congress (APC).
Shortly after his contributions at about 1pm , members of the PDP who were mobilized in their large numbers continued shouting and singing uncontrollably. Efforts by the IGP , INEC chairman and Chairman, Ekiti State Council of Obas, Oba Michael Ademolaju, to calm and put the situation under control were rejected by the supporters, thereby bring the meeting to an abrupt end.
Speaking earlier,the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) Prof. Yakubu assured the people of Ekiti state that their votes would count for the Saturday’s governorship election in the state.
The INEC boss said the electoral body had mapped strategies and concluded arrangement to ensure that the will of the electorates prevail at the poll. Prof. Yakubu noted that INEC would be fair and transparent to all political parties, adding that their views and concerns had been looked into. ”I wish to once again reassure you that the choice of who becomes the next governor of Ekiti state is entirely in the hands of the voters. The votes will count.Only the choice made by the people of Ekiti state and nothing else will determine the outcome of the election.
”We are confident that with the arrangements we have put in place and the assurances of support from all stakeholders ,the Ekiti election 2018 will be another good example of a free ,fair, credible ,peaceful election and a further affirmation of the maturity of our democracy,” he said.
He disclosed that the collection of Permanent Voters Card(PVC ) would be suspended on Wednesday until after the election. He stressed in order to enhance transparent poll, three National Commissioners from the North Central,South-South and North Earst geo-political zones had been deployed.
According to the INEC chairman,five resident electoral commissioners from the other zones aside the south west geo-political zone had also been deployed to the state. We ‘ll provide adequate security-IG The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris noted that adequate security had been put in place to ensure security of lives and property before,during and after the election.
His words:” It is the responsibility of the Nigeria Police Force as the foremost internal security agency complemented by other security agencies to provide adequate security for this election and i can assure you that we are fully prepared for it.
“The task of providing security involves gathering intelligence around the election to forestall any threats or violence ,the physical protection and safety of electoral personnel both permanent and ad-hoc staff ,electoral observers and electoral materials during and after the elections until results are collated and announced.
Each of the senatorial zones will be under the command of a commissionser of Police while the each of the four area commands will be under the command of deputy commissioner of police.” The IGP disclosed that massive check points in all the wards and local governments would be mounted to search persons and vehicles so as to ensure that weapons or explosives are not conveyed before, during and after the election. – Vanguard
– July 9, 2018 @ 9:10 GMT |
Tags: Confusion as INEC Stakeholders meeting in Ekiti ends in Rowdy Session
