The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has deployed an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Gummel, and the Commissioner of Police in Kaduna State, CP Rabiu Muhammad, to Zamfara State, to monitor the supplementary election for Kaura-Namoda South State Constituency.
Addressing police officers and other security agencies ahead of the exercise scheduled for August 21, AIG Gummel warned against interference in the process. He also cautioned political thugs and miscreants against attempts to disrupt the exercise, stressing that security agencies are ready to guarantee a safe and secure process in the five polling units where the election will be held.
On his part, CP Rabiu Muhammad warned police personnel deployed for election duty to remain at their designated security posts and avoid direct involvement in the voting process. According to him, their role is strictly to secure the environment, not to interfere with electoral activities.
Meanwhile, police authorities have announced a ban on the participation of state-owned security outfits in the supplementary election.
The supplementary poll will take place in five polling units across two registration areas of Sakajiki and Kyambarawawards of Kaura-Namoda South Constituency.
The exercise followed the earlier declaration of the Kaura-Namoda South Constituency by-election as inconclusive by the Returning Officer, Lawal Sa’adu of the Federal University, Gusau. Sa’adu, of the Federal University, Gusau, explained that the margin between the leading party and the runner-up was less than the total number of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collected in polling units where elections were cancelled, thereby necessitating a supplementary poll.
Ahead of the vote, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mahmuda Isah, assured political parties and voters that the commission had put adequate measures in place to ensure a smooth and hitch-free process during a stakeholders’ meeting in Gusau.
