The Niger State Police Commissioner, Mr Sabo Ibrahim, has assured the people of the state that adequate security arrangements are in place to ensure the safety of all sensitive election materials earlier dispatched to the 25 local government council areas of the state before the postponement of the February 16 presidential and National Assembly elections.
The Commissioner of Police, in an exclusive interview with The Point, said the Ogun State Police Command would ensure adequate protection of voting materials till Saturday.
The CP explained that the Command had since been working in collaboration with the state INEC on the movement and security of the sensitive materials pending the new date of the elections.
He, therefore, appealed to the people of the state to remain calm and desist from taking laws into their hands in order to prevent breakdown of law and order.
On his part, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Samuel Egwu, in a telephone interview said the Commission needed to partner security agencies for the safety and security of sensitive election materials as well as personnel.
He said, “The Commission is into discussion with relevant security apparatuses in the state to see how we can secure sensitive materials pending the time the elections will hold.
“I can confirm to you that sensitive materials for all positions have arrived Minna, the capital of Niger State. We have received all materials.”
But in a swift reaction, the state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Tunde Oladunjoye, denied the allegation saying the party was sure of victory.
He said the postponement was a shift in evil day for the PDP.
Boasting that the APC and its presidential candidate would be defeated in the coming poll, Sodipo faulted INEC’s reasons for the postponed election considering the mobilisation and heavy logistics that went into it.
He said the agency was not sincere on the election date shift and alleged that the Federal Government colluded with INEC to waste the nation’s resources through the postponement.
He stressed that President Buhari would be defeated in the election despite earlier boasts that nobody could unseat him as president, adding that “It is a woeful deceit; they can see that Buhari will loose the election woefully.
“Nigerians are against them. Nigerians are hungry and angry; they want him to go.
“He (Buhari) should have allowed the election to hold, whether they can unseat him or not. Why is he running away from the election? Atiku will defeat Buhari woefully. They are panicking and are making signs of woeful deceit. They should have tested the reliability of the logistics required to move the election materials before the due date.
“During the time of former President Goodluck Jonathan, the postponement was determined at the Council of State meeting but in this case, somebody just woke up from his sleep and said the elections had been cancelled when we were about to go to the polls.
“Can you imagine the value of revenue that had been wasted by governments at various levels, agencies, private concerns and individuals as a result of the postponement?”
