Kogi, Bayelsa Polls: It Won’t Be Business As Usual, Disruptions And Vote Buying Will Not Be Tolerated – IGP

  • Anyone who contravenes the law during the governorship elections will face the consequences.
  • The State INEC Headquarters will be protected and even the Local Government Area offices.

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed Adamu has warned that it will not be business as usual for any group of individuals nursing the idea of either disrupting the electoral process or engaging in vote trading during the 16th November governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States.

The Police boss gave the warning at the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee of Election Security meeting, held at the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) headquarters, Abuja on Friday.

IGP Adamu, therefore, stated that anyone who contravenes the law during the governorship elections will face the consequences.

READ: Bayelsa, Kogi Gov Elections: INEC Delivers Non-sensitive Materials

The warning is coming on heels of the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s tip-off that signals that trouble was in the offing were already manifesting.

In his responses, the IGP assured Nigerians that the Police were fully prepared for the elections. He further said that based on the experiences of the 2019 general elections, some of the challenges encountered have been addressed ahead of the two governorship elections.

“We are aware of the security challenges in the two states and we have made adequate provision in terms of personnel and logistics to overcome any security challenge that will manifest”.

Having carried out Threat Analysis in the two states, while some personnel has been deployed in advance to deal with the identified threats the IGP Revealed that 31,041 security personnel would be deployed in Bayelsa State while 35, 200 will be deployed in Kogi State. They are to cover every terrain in both states.

READ: INEC Gives Status Report on Kogi, Bayelsa Governorship Elections

“Nobody will be allowed to disrupt the election. INEC’s facilities will be protected. The collation centres and the polling units will be adequately manned, especially at the collation centres where the results are tallied and where we usually receive complaints of disruption.

“I have doubled the number of personnel that will be there to make sure that the right thing is done. The State INEC Headquarters will be protected and even the Local Government Area offices, the ward collation centres will be adequately protected. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), where the materials will be, will also be taken care of in terms of security.”

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