—Tasks Strategic Police Managers on Professionalism, Compliance With Extant Laws for Credible Elections
By Kamsi Anayo, Awka
The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba Thursday met with strategic police managers to review the evolving political programmes as laid out by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and chart clear pathways to ensure a smooth electoral process in the countdown to the 2023 general elections.
Delivering his remarks, the IGP told the officers, “the provision of the requisite professional leadership to achieve our election security mandate rests squarely on the shoulders of all of you that are here seated.”
He urged them to boost the security of their public space towards guaranteeing a crime-free and enabling environment for political campaigns and other components of the electoral process.
The IGP noted that following the announcement by the INEC for the commencement of electioneering campaigns by all political parties from Sept. 28, the national political space will become active and susceptible to increase in politically related offences.
Baba tasked Strategic Police Managers on discharging their duties before, during, and after the electioneering process in line with the dictates of the Electoral Act 2022, and the Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement for Security Personnel on Election Duty issued in 2020 by the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
IGP advised political actors to subsume their campaigns within extant legal frameworks, “avoid actions or speeches that could inflame the political order and above all, cooperate with the police in our drive to guarantee a peaceful electioneering process”, he warned.
Baba also warned elements whose perception of democracy is the application of violence to have a rethink, “as the Nigeria Police under my watch is committed to dealing firmly with such characters within the dictates of the law and in furtherance to Mr. President’s desire to bequeath a legacy of entrenched democratic values to our beloved nation” he said.
Similarly, the IGP emphasized the fact that all quasi-security outfits established by various state governments and local communities operating under different nomenclatures, structures, and orientations have no legal roles under the Electoral Act and in the electoral process.
He therefore directed all Police Managers to ensure they are not utilized by political or community actors for any role during the electioneering campaign and other electoral processes as such would amount to an illegality, a threat to national security, and inimical to the nation’s democratic interest.
Baba urged all Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and Commissioners of Police in charge of Zonal and State Commands to work assiduously and engage an all-inclusive approach by liaising with Resident Electoral Commissioners, leadership of political parties in their commands
He also urged all relevant stakeholders, to increase intelligence gathering activities, and upscale deployments to achieve the goal of re-energising the Force to sustain a stable internal security order.