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Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police says Police will be impartial at the polls

23rd March 2015 Ahead of Nigeria’s elections on the twenty eighth, the country’s Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba has given his word at a strategic meeting with the Assistant Inspector General of Police and Commissioners of Police of various divisions and States that the force will be impartial in the course of their duties during the elections.

The IGP said, “Police will be impartial during the election. We have been impartial and we will continue to be impartial. We will strategise to make sure that we are non-partisan and that we exhibit impartiality on the days of elections and days after.

On some of the preparations undertaken by the force for the coming elections he is quoted as saying

“We have been lecturing our officers and we have conducted trainings just to make sure that our men understand their roles, we published guidelines for them with regards to their conduct during the election. All these are tailored towards making them non-partisan and impartial,”

The IGP also warned mischievous  persons to desist from making trouble before, during or after the polls, as they will also face the law.

According to him, “if you are not going to add any value to the polling unit, stay away. Anyone who tries or who attempts to disrupt the election will be arrested and prosecuted. The attempt can be outside the polling unit, around the unit, collation centres, it can even be after the declaration of result, whoever wants to take the laws into his own hands should have a rethink because we will not tolerate their acts.

He further issued a warning to those sorts saying “It is better you leave if you know you cannot behave yourself well at the polling unit because attempt to intimidate anyone is an offence, soliciting for votes is an offence, and carrying of weapon is also an offence.

The Inspector General also gave his word about safety of the electorate, that security was guaranteed. “We will make sure that nobody disrupts the peace of the electoral processes and we will ensure that the place is secured enough for electorates to cast their votes and secured enough to prevent crimes outlined in Section 129 of the electoral law,”

Those were his words.

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