::: OSUN 2014 ::: MASSIVE SECURITY DEPLOYMENT FOR OSUN POLL ...FG =============================================== M africa online tv, gathered that security agencies would, next month, deploy massively for Osun State governorship election, what they did during the Ekiti State governorship election. also the Nigerian Police will deploy massively for the 2015 elections and police promise to partner other security agencies to ensure elections are violence-free. will make the polls credible. Our reporter gathered from source, that Federal Government is planning tight security for the August 9, 2014 governorship poll in Osun State and the 2015 elections, Despite criticisms from the opposition party over the heavy presence of security men during the Ekiti State governorship election. A highly placed security source, who confided in one of our correspondents, said, “Opposition parties should prepare for heavy deployment of security personnel in their states. With the success recorded in Ekiti, security agencies are preparing for a large deployment of their personnel. Helicopters and armoured personnel careers will be in many states during the general elections.” The Police Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, confirmed that the police, in collaboration with other agencies, would ensure tight security during the 2015 polls. He, however, said security agencies were not targeting opposition parties, saying all the states, where elections would hold, would be given equal attention. Mba said it was only a political party that had something to hide that would be afraid of security personnel deployment during elections. He stated that security operatives had no other business during elections but to ensure that the due process was followed and that elections held in accordance with the Electoral Act. “The police and other security agencies are like light; they are meant to shine light on the electoral process and if a party has nothing to hide, it shouldn’t be afraid of our deployments,” he stated. Mba said the Force, under the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, would continue to maintain professionalism and adherence to their code of ethics during election monitoring. Mba said, “The deployment of security personnel during the 2015 elections will ensure the process is free and fair. The police are apolitical and we have continued to maintain that stance since the current IG assumed office and this could be seen in the way policemen conducted themselves during elections in Ondo, Edo, Anambra, and Ekiti states. But reacting to the plan for massive security deployment in the 2015 elections, opposition politicians and civil rights groups warned the Federal Government against undermining free and fair elections. A delegate at the ongoing National Conference, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, alleged that plans to deploy armed military personnel for the 2015 elections just as it was done in Ekiti, was a ploy to provide cover for the rigging of the elections. According to him, what happened in Ekiti was the acting out of a script written by the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government and executed by security services. “What happened in Ekiti is not an accident. It wasn’t a fluke and what is going to happen in Osun, is also not going to be an accident. He stated. He said heads of some security agencies were at the centre of the plan to rig the elections, “These are the people who set the parameters for the rigging of elections. And let me tell you, throughout the history of Nigeria, there has never been a successful attempt to rig without the full support of the Police and the security services.” Mohammed alleged that the President granted an extension to the tenure of the Inspector-General of Police, who is due to retire this July, but the possibility of a further extension if he delivers on Osun and the national elections in 2015 and there are no consequences by the spineless electorate and the kind of politicians we have in Nigeria.” But Mba dismissed the allegations against the IGP. Responding to allegation that the IG’s tenure was extended by one year because he assisted the PDP to rig the Ekiti governorship election, the Police spokesman said he could not comment on this as there was no document or evidence to show that Abubakar’s tenure had been extended by the Federal Government. He described the allegation of rigging as a “slap on the face of Ekiti voters” whom he said applauded the process as free and fair. Also, a national leader of the APC and a former national chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, Dr. Ogbonaya Onu, said “The level of intimidation and harassment was very disturbing to us. We shouldn’t fail to see the place of fear in politics.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 05:24:24 +0000