Amidst expressions of fear by rival groups in the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security operatives yesterday pledged level-playing field for all camps.
At a meeting called by the state Council of Traditional Rulers yesterday, regarding the preparedness of INEC and security agencies for the poll, INEC and security operatives promised to “ensure free, fair and credible governorship election”.
The parley was attended by traditional rulers across the 16 councils of the state, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Alhaji Halilu Pai, Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Felix Uyanna and the State Director, Department of State Security, Mr. Samuel Tamuno.
The REC assured that election materials would not be late in getting to locations, adding that the commission had “started distribution of non-sensitive materials to all the 16 council areas in the state”.
Pai added that sensitive materials would get to the councils only two days to the election, adding that the commission had so far registered additional 76,000 prospective voters through the continuous voter registration in addition to the 657,000 already captured during the 2011 voter registration.
Noting the improvement in the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), the REC urged those who had not collected their PVCs to do so. He also vowed that no one without the card would be allowed to vote.
Dismissing the rumour that some politicians were planning to “clone the PVCs to gain undue advantages to perpetrate fraud,” Pai maintained it would be difficult to clone the cards given “the security features embedded on both the PVCs and the ballot papers”.
He appealed to traditional rulers to advise all parties in the election to be peaceful, saying: “INEC will do everything to ensure that all votes count”.
The CP, in his own comments, said the security operatives have outlined measures to ensure that all the 2,195 polling booths were manned by operatives, adding that no fewer than 12,000 policemen would be deployed in the state for the exercise.
Uyanna said: “Each polling booth will be manned by three policemen to be headed by an officer not below a superintendent of police and will be supplemented with other officers from sister security agencies.
“Besides, there will be 200 counter-terrorist officers, two DIGs and AIGs. There will also be four sniffer dogs, horses and two aircraft that will be hovering in the sky to monitor the process.”
He maintained that the high presence of law enforcement agents, including the military on the election day, should not intimidate the voters.
His words: “Our job is to ensure security and to provide a level-playing ground and this we are doing.”
Tamuno remarked that the SSS had been providing intelligence reports to both INEC and the police to ensure credible election, noting that the organisation would support sister security agencies for the achievement of credible exercise.
Earlier, the chairman of the traditional rulers’ council, Oba Adamo Babalola, said the meeting was necessary to know the level of preparedness of the security operatives and the INEC ahead of the election.
The monarchs, who spoke after the other at the meeting, commended government officials for their commitment towards credible election. They, however, urged them not to allow the Anambra episode to reoccur in Ekiti, adding that early arrival of election materials at the polling booths would calm nerves and help the attainment of violence-free poll.
