The Nigeria Police Force has assured electorates in Ekiti State ahead of the July 14 election that the police will ensure adequate security noting that the force does not belong to any political party.
The spokesperson of the Nigeria Police force, Jimoh Moshood, who was a guest on Channels Television breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, on Friday, stressed that the deployment of 30,000 personnel to Ekiti is to ensure adequate security in the nook and cranny of the state before and during the gubernatorial election.
“Going to Ekiti with 30,000 personnel is to ensure that everything is in order and to guarantee a secure environment for the electorates.
“We are assuring the people of Ekiti that the Nigerian police is apolitical. We don’t belong to APC or PDP, we don’t belong to any political party. There are 35 political parties involved in this and all of them have the right to be protected.
“Every political party has the right so to be allowed to do what is expected of them in the electoral act. Every party have the right to have their observer and the point where votes are being cast and we have to provide security for this,” he said.
Ahead of the poll, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday commenced distribution of sensitive materials to the 16 local governments in Ekiti state.
This was after the materials were received by the Electoral body at the Central Bank office in Ado Ekiti, the state capital. The materials were loaded into vehicles for transportation amidst tight security and in the presence of all relevant stakeholders.
Moshood during the interview on Friday noted that the purpose of the massive deployment is for the security of the people to create a peaceful atmosphere which will encourage the residents to exercise their civic duties.
“Our concern is about the people of Ekiti. They are the people that have a stake in this election. They are the people that are going to elect their leader. We are providing a secure environment for them because once we have an incident of ballot paper snatching or attacks on the electorate in any polling unit the news will spread and people will have apathy of coming out.”
