As more police personnel deployed to Ekiti State for election duties arrived the state on Thursday, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Johnson Kokumo, who is in charge of the state governorship poll, called on the people of the state to be law-abiding and respect all the processes of the elections.
These, Kokumo said, would make it possible for the state to be properly secured to avoid any breakdown of law and order as well as ensure peaceful conduct of Saturday’s election.
The DIG, who spoke at a briefing in Ado Ekiti, said, “Over 17,000 police operatives deployed for the Ekiti poll are meant to secure the state and not for any form of intimidation of citizens, but to secure lives and the rule of law.”
According to him, soldiers would be at the borders of the communities to prevent any form of intruders, adding that “all policemen attached to VIPs should be withdrawn and made to return to base for the purpose of the election.”
This was as Ekiti State Police Command released two dedicated phone numbers for the purpose of the 2022 Ekiti State governorship election.
According to a press statement by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Sunday Abutu, “members of the public are advised to make use of the dedicated lines in case of emergency report or complaints.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission has moved sensitive materials to the 16 local government areas of the state ahead of the Saturday’s election.
The deployment, which was done at the state INEC headquarters, was observed by security operatives, accredited media, observers and other stakeholders.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Adeniran Tella, who distributed the materials, said electoral officers would take the items to their councils where it would be sent to the polling units on Saturday morning.
Tella expressed hope that there would be no late arrival of materials to polling units on Saturday, adding that the ballot papers were colour-coded for each LG in order to prevent electoral fraud, adding that the result sheets were also customised according to the polling units.
Also speaking, INEC State Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Femi Akinbiyi, said vehicles conveying the materials to the respective local government areas were being tracked from the INEC office.
