The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the Nigeria Police have assured the people of Bayelsa State of a smooth and credible governorship election on Saturday.
INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu and Inspector of Police, IGP, Solomon Arase, both gave the assurance in Yenagoa on Tuesday morning at the headquarters of the police in the state.
Yakubu, who said he was in Bayelsa to assure stakeholders of the resolve of INEC to deliver credible elections come December 5, gave his word that the electoral body would not allow any interference or manipulations of the ballot and that the vote of the people will be allowed to count.
“We are here to assure everyone that no one but Bayelsa people will determine who their governor will be through the ballot, they should come out and cast their votes freely,” he said.
Continuing, Yakubu declared that “the elections will be free and fair” noting that both INEC and the police have vital roles to play in the success of the exercise.
“We are here to assure Bayelsa people that we have created the enabling environment for credible elections,” the INEC chairman said.
He also disclosed that the outstanding 52,000 Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, from the continuous voter registration exercise conducted in September, 2015 had been delivered to the state Resident Electoral Commissioner.
He assured that the pectoral body would make sure that the cards distributed before the election date.
In his own comments, the IGP said that the police would deploy about 14,000 officers and men and 15 units of the mobile force men for the election.
He said that the police would replicate the success it recorded in Kogi elections two weeks ago.
“We are going to dominate the security space, we are going to have aerial surveillance, a DIG is coming to supervise the elections with additional three Commissioners, we are going to lock down the waterways,” Arase said.
The police chief warned men of the state police command not to engage in any unprofessional conduct that would drag the name of the force in the mud.
“I expect the highest standards from you and I hold you in very high esteem, so conduct yourselves professionally and do not sell your conscience,” he said.