POLICE SERVICE COMMISSION
PRESS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT
PRESS STATEMENT
INEC COMMENDS POLICE SERVICE COMMISSION FOR ITS CONTRIBUTION TO SUCCESS OF 2015 ELECTIONS
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commended the Police Service Commission (PSC) for its contribution to the success of the 2015 general elections.
The PSC had during the elections deployed over 400 Monitors to the 109 Senatorial Districts in the country under the leadership of the Commission’s Chairman, Sir (Dr.) Mike Mbama Okiro, a retired Inspector General of Police, to monitor the conduct of Police Officers during the elections.
INEC in a letter signed by I.A Gali, Director, Commission Secretariat, for the Secretary to the Commission and sent to PSC in acknowledgment of the receipt of its (PSC) Report on the monitoring exercise, conveyed its “appreciation for the services rendered which ensured the success of the 2015 General Elections”.
The PSC in its report stated that in the exercise of its Constitutional Mandate to hold the Police accountable for its conduct or misconduct, it believes “that sustainable democracy rests on the conduct of free, fair, credible and transparent elections and that the integrity of the process cannot be fully achieved if the security personnel, more especially the Police fail to discharge their Constitutional responsibilities”.
In its report which was forwarded to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Chairman of INEC and the Inspector General of Police, the PSC recommended that more Police men should be deployed to the polling Units in future elections to ensure effective control of the voters and the election materials.
It also recommended that there should be more presence of armed Police Men at junctions near the polling Units to ensure quick rescue of election officials and materials during crisis. The Commission also in its recommendation stated that there was an urgent need for an injection of more Police Men into the Force to address the obvious inadequacy of Police Men in the country.
“There is also the need to introduce armed undercover Police Men at polling Units to protect their unarmed uniformed colleagues and also prevent hoodlums and political thugs that usually storm these polling Units with pomp action guns and other dangerous weapons to intimidate, kill and snatch ballot boxes”, the Commission also recommended.
The PSC noted that there was substantial improvement in logistics deployment by the Nigeria Police Force for the 2015 general elections compared to previous elections in the country.
Ikechukwu Ani
Head, Press and Public Relations
23rd June, 2015