Ekiti Election: No Official Will Be Compromised, Says INEC

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu has said that no official will be compromised during the Ekiti governorship election which is slated to hold this Saturday.

The INEC boss stated this on Monday during the stakeholders meeting towards the election which had the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, in attendance.

Mr. Yakubu said that adequate sensitisation of the materials have been done and therefore assured that only voters will decide who wins the polls.

He emphasized that “No election material will be tampered with and no INEC official will be compromised”.

The police on its part is ensuring that law and order are obeyed to avoid disruption during the voting process.

To this effect, the force is deploying about 30, 000 personnel on the ground to secure the state ahead of the polls.

The spokesman of the Police Force, Jimoh Moshood, has explained why 30,000 police personnel will be in Ekiti State for the election.

He said Ekiti State is a ‘flashpoint’ and deploying 30,000 officers for the election is not an over-deployment but an adequate figure to ensure security.

“Ekiti is a flashpoint when it comes to politicking, you can remember what happened in the second republic, we don’t want a repeat of that. When the election is free and fair and election result is being announced, you still see people that want to disrupt the peace of other Nigerians.

“There is no over deployment in 30,000 police personnel, it is an adequate figure to ensure that everybody that has one business or the other that is authorised to play there role during the elections.”

He further added that the number of personnel deployed is not peculiar to Ekiti State only as same was done during Edo and Anambra elections.

He noted that the action was also prompted by ‘inciting’ statements by political leaders in Ekiti State.