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Ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State, the first batch of the 35,000 police officers deployed to ensure law and order during election has arrived in the state, The PUNCH has learnt.
Also in the state are soldiers and officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as moves intensify to ensure a hitch-free poll.
Seventeen political parties presented candidates for the poll but the All Progressives Congress candidate Senator Monday Okpebholo, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party are the leading contenders ahead of the ballot.
The Defence Headquarters said the deployment of soldiers was meant to guarantee a safe environment for the electorate during the election.
Speaking in an interview with The PUNCH, the Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, said the military would take steps to ensure the election was devoid of violence.
He said, “During elections troops are required to provide security in order to encourage high voter turnout as well as ensure the safety of voters. The forthcoming election in Edo will not be an exception. The military is resolute on taking steps to ensure a hitch-free election in Edo State.”
Soldiers patrol Benin
On Tuesday, armed soldiers were visible on the streets of Benin City, the state capital. An army truck with soldiers patrolled the Government Reservation Road, Ring Road and Akpakpava Road axis, apparently to announce their presence in the state.
The military presence has raised concerns after a Federal High Court in Lagos ruled in 2015 that the Nigerian Armed Forces had no role in the conduct of elections in the country.
The court relied on a Court of Appeal ruling that barred the use of soldiers in the conduct of elections, stating that it was a violation of Section 217(2)(c) of the Constitution and Section 1 of the Armed Forces Act.
Security expert, Taofik Onigbanjo, said the presence of the military personnel would deter thugs and miscreants from planning to foment trouble on or before Election Day but cautioned against using the soldiers to intimidate the state residents.
“The military presence is good to discourage those who are may want to cause trouble on before the election. I have seen the soldiers in several areas in town and their presence will be good for the smooth conduct of the election,” Onigbanjo said.
“However, the election should not be too militarised so that it will not appear like voters, party leaders and others are being intimidated because this can put a question mark on the credibility of the election.”
In a similar move, the first batch of the 35,000 police officers deployed for the election by the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, arrived in the Edo State capital on Tuesday. Spokesman of the Edo State Police Command, Moses Yamu, told The PUNCH that the Deputy Inspector-General that would supervise security for the election was being expected.
He said, “I can tell you that the officers that will join those in the Edo Police Command started arriving today (Tuesday). The DIG supervising the election will brief the media when he arrives in Benin soon.”
The NSCDC also deployed 6,433 personnel to ensure a peaceful and secure electoral process in the state.
The PUNCH learnt that the officers would arrive in Edo on Thursday.
The corps spokesperson, Afolabi Babawale, explaining the breakdown, stated, “The NSCDC will draw officers from neighbouring states, including 300 from Ondo, Delta (300), Kogi (300), Imo (300), Rivers (400), Bayelsa (350) and 250 officers from Enugu.
“Edo State will contribute 3,626 officers to the operation. Additionally, 607 special forces, including intelligence squads, anti-vandal units, and specialised security teams will be mobilised from the NSCDC national headquarters.”
He further stated that the Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Ahmed Audi, urged officers to remain neutral, professional, and disciplined throughout the election.
Babawale added that officers had been strategically deployed to flashpoints and potentially volatile areas to maintain law and order.
He added, “Security personnel will work in collaboration with other agencies to secure polling units, collation centres, and sensitive areas across the state.”
There’ve been fears that the economic hardship in the country could induce vote trading and buying in the poll.
The Transition Monitoring Group, a coalition of over 400 human rights organisation, which trained 100 observers for the election, last week called on the EFCC to deploy enough personnel to monitor vote buying and selling in polling units.
In June, EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, during a Town Hall meeting on voter’s sensitisation in Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area and at the Famcoop Hall, University of Benin, warned against vote buying and selling in the forthcoming election.
The EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, said the deployment had been made but didn’t disclose the figure.
He said, “We have deployed our officers to monitor the elections. The officers are in appreciable numbers.”
A Benin resident, Mallam Hassan Alabidun, said vote buying could only be reduced but not completely eradicated, adding that gifts or provision of refreshments on Election Day could sway votes and change the mind of voters.
He said, “Vote- buying is not all about giving money to the electorate. We see party agents buying refreshments for voters on Election Day and that is also a form of vote buying because that gesture can sway votes the way of the candidate the agents represent.
“We also see that after voting party agents give money to people who they can confirm voted for their candidates. These are not new and it is expected to happen in this election.”
Chairman of the Edo State chapter of the Conference of Registered Political Parties, Samson Isibor, admitted that it would be difficult to reject some of the offers but urged the electorate to collect the money and vote their conscience.
He said, “For me, this is an unwelcomed development, any political party that wants to buy votes does not mean well for the people and the state. What they are engaging in is transactional politics, where buying and selling of votes becomes the order of the day.
“We do not want politics to degenerate into this. Those who buy votes are not coming to serve the people. You don’t need to buy votes from people you want to serve. All you have to do is sell your manifesto to them.
“I will urge the people to be careful with these types of politicians who are bent on getting to power by hook or crook. They are very dangerous and cannot be trusted. My advice to the people is to collect the money, which is theirs in the first place, and vote their conscience.
“The people should please not mortgage their conscience and lives. There is economic problem in the country, which has resulted into lack of food, so don’t further put yourselves into trouble by selling your votes.”
2.2 million voters
Meanwhile, INEC on Tuesday announced that out of 2,629,025 registered voters in Edo State, 2,249,780 Permanent Voter’s Cards were collected ahead of the election.
The National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, disclosed this in a statement.
He noted that the collected PVCs represent 85.57 per cent of the total, with 379,245 PVCs, or 14.43 perc ent still uncollected as of the extended deadline on Sunday September 15, 2024.
The statement read, “Nigerians may recall that the commission recently announced that the total number of registered voters in Edo State is 2,629,025.
“Out of this figure, 2,249,780 (85.57 per cent) have collected their Permanent Voters’ Cards while 379,245 (14.43 per cent) of the PVCs are uncollected as at the end of the extended period for PVC collection on Sunday, 15th September 2024.
“Consequently, the commission is making available data on PVC collection on Polling Unit basis in Edo State ahead of the Governorship election holding this weekend.
“There are 4,519 Polling Units in the State. Voting will take place in each unit. The detailed breakdown of the number of PVCs collected, as well as the number uncollected in each unit, has been uploaded to our website for guidance of political parties, candidates and public information,” the statement read.
INEC commenced the collection of the PVCs by newly registered voters on August 22 to 26, 2024 at ward level, after which the collection moved to Local Government offices from August 28 to September 8, 2024.
The commission later extended the deadline for the collection of PVCs by three days following an appeal from stakeholders.
The extension ran from September 13 to September 15, 2024 at INEC offices across the state’s 18 Local Government Areas.
The electoral commission told The PUNCH that all the non-sensitive materials for the poll had been delivered and batched.
The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, who disclosed this to The PUNCH on Tuesday, said the sensitive materials were at the Central Bank and would be distributed this week ahead of the election.
He said, “All the non-sensitive materials for the election have already been delivered and batched. All activities and movements connected to them are being monitored on our special platform. The INEC chairman was in Edo State last week on a Readiness Assessment Visit to inspect some of the materials and was given a progress report among other activities he undertook.
“The sensitive materials are at the Central Bank, Benin-City and will be distributed this week. Party agents, observers, the media and security agents will be invited to witness the process.”
Oyekanmi also said that INEC was working to get materials to riverine areas on time by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, who will use motorised boats to get materials and the commission’s officials to the riverine areas.
“It was in recognition of the peculiar challenges of delivering electoral materials to some of the riverine areas in Edo State that the commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria. We have the assurance that the adequate number of motorized boats that we requested for will be deployed for that purpose.”
Meanwhile, Governor Godwin Obaseki has warned civil servants in the state that they would become the first victims, should the opposition win Saturday’s governorship election.
“Those who want to take over power by all means are uneducated and have never worked in any better place. My message to you is that it’s a risk we can’t afford. It’s not about Obaseki but democracy and development,” Obaseki said during a meeting with the civil servants on Tuesday.
“The risk is allowing people without ideas of what to do to lead, people who can’t even articulate their ideas, people who can’t read a balance sheet. They can’t offer us anything but all they talk about is federal might and others.
“Edo will face a major risk if you miss it on Saturday. Any mistake you make will affect you first before others. You will be the first victim.”
PDP governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, said one of the worst things that could happen to a people was a leadership that they won’t be proud of.
“Edo State will never be like that. When we vote for the wrong person, we go into retrogression and the economy will crash. Edo will not be so,” he said.
Ighodalo’s wife, Ifeyinwa, embarked on a roadshow in Benin City to drum support for her husband.
The roadshow, which kicked off from the National Museum, had women in large numbers in attendance, especially from the Arewa community in the state and from Oredo, Ikpoba Okha and Egor LGAs respectively.
“I come to you to tell you that my husband will support all Edo People, including the market women. A vote for him is not a wasted one,” Ifeyinwa said.
