The Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, has denied banning voters from staying back to monitor their votes, saying that his advisory was based on the provisions of the Electoral Act, which forbids loitering around the polling units to prevent commission of crimes.
Abba, who addressed Squadron Commanders of Police Mobile Force, Counter-Terrorism commanders and other senior officers at the Force headquarters, Abuja, on Tuesday, explained that the security during the election was important, hence the need to avoid anything capable of jeopardising the arrangements that had been put in place.
According to him, Section 129 (I) of the Electoral Act forbade voters from staying or loitering at the polling unit after casting their votes or if prevented from casting their ballots.
He said, “I didn’t ban voters from staying after voting, I advised based on Section 129(I) of the Electoral Act, which states that voters should not loiter after voting to prevent commission of crimes. And if they must stay, they should be at least 300 metres from the polling unit for security reasons; this is in consonance with the Electoral Act.”
The IG was reported to have earlier asked voters to go home after voting, saying the possibility of committing electoral offence was very high if voters stayed back at the polling booths for votes to be counted.
“Cast your votes and go and cool down. If you remain there, there is likelihood that you will commit an offence.
“Asking voters to wait and protect their votes implies taking the law into their own hands. It is unacceptable,” he reportedly stated.
Addressing the squadron commanders, the IG said the Force would deploy intervention teams to contain any eruption of violence before, during and after the elections.
This, he added, was necessary to prevent ballot box snatching and violence during the polls.
The intervention teams, according to him, would be supported by the Mobile Police Strike Force, particularly after the declaration of results, to protect citizens.
Abba said every requirement would be provided for the police personnel involved in election duty to enable them to perform optimally, noting that the PMF would be most needed during transportation of election materials and at the places where the materials would be kept.
