A lecturer at the Center for Ethnics and Conflict Studies, University of Port-Harcourt, Paul Nylulaku, has said that there needs to be a balance in the deployment of security in Osun State, as police and military should be deployed the way they were in Ekiti State.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Mr Paul Nylulaku stated that if the Osun State election is credible with proper security management, the issues of political violence would be finally addressed and would help in shaping Nigeria’s political culture.
“We are in a period of forming a political culture of peaceful elections, and there should be high level deployment”, he said.
He, however, said that the focus should be on how each party and stakeholders contribute their own quota in ensuring the election is very credible.
“The politicians, voters, INEC, electoral management body, the agents, all these stakeholders can contribute to the process and ensure that the Osun election turns out very credible”, he said.
Mr Nylulaku also noted that despite several areas of disagreement at the stakeholders’ summit which held on Wednesday, he felt that the meeting was very important and the Police and INEC would take the summit seriously due to the serious implications it would have on the general elections.
He urged the Police and military to carry out their jobs in a way that they would not restrict any voter, commending the acting Inspector-General of Police, who also came out to explain that the presence of the Police would not be to violate the rights of any voter but to ensure the protection of lives and property.
He added that the rules by the Inspector-General of Police should not be a potential cause of conflict but should make citizens conduct themselves in ways that would not disturb the election process.
He maintained that if the Osun election turns out successful, there would be positive implication on the morale and motivation of voters towards the upcoming general election of 2015.
