Plateau Insists on Council Polls Despite Security Challenges

Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

Plateau State citizens have expressed grave concern over the insistence of the Plateau Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) to conduct local government council polls on Saturday despite the glaring insecurity in the state.

Giving a word of caution in a press statement, Plateau Initiative for the Development and Advancement of the Natives (PIDAN) called on the citizens and all political actors in the state to conduct themselves calmly and remain peaceful during the elections.

The statement, signed by PIDAN Secretary General, Mr. Nanle Gujor, added that “We have had too many crises. We therefore call on citizens to avoid anything that will rear the ugly face of any crises”, the statement said, adding that any disagreement should be settled amicably, through genuine channels, instead of taking the law into your hands.

“We appealed to the politicians to guards against reckless utterances and to avoid actions that may breach of peace.”

On its part, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Youth Wing, led by Markus Audu observed that, “The history of elections in Plateau State, particularly Jos North LGA has been very volatile, characterised by crisis and unrests transforming into violent conflicts and disruption of civil activities.

Sadly, this gets to be recovered painfully after a lot has been wasted and destroyed. This usually necessitates the appointment of LGA Management Committee Chairmen over the years.

“It is on record that Jos had been relatively stable since the 2015 general elections, yet the government didn’t conduct LGA elections in Jos North, Jos South, Riyom and Barkin Ladi for the reasons of insecurity. However, between the close of 2020 to August 2021, we have had resurgence of insecurity and massive destructions of lives and properties followed by the imposition of 24 hours curfew just few months ago which was only relaxed to now between 10.00pm to 6.00am. This is indicative of the fact that normalcy has not yet returned to the troubled LGAs of Bassa, Jos South, Riyom and Jos North.

“The most recent of the ugly incidences are experiences in Bassa and Jos North LGAs in August 2021 in the manner that the University of Jos had to close down all academic activities with only plans of resumption on Saturday 9th October, 2021 as the campus is still under tension and no visible presence of stationed security personnel. Unfortunately, the said resumption date coincides with the day of the LGA elections and this may expose returning students to danger.

“Given the foregoing, it is therefore surprising that the government is planning to conduct election in these volatile LGAs of Bassa and Jos North. We are in awe as to the insensitivity of government considering that we are just recovering from the effects of the recent security breach. We advise the government to resist the temptation of being insensitive to the plight of Plateau people and refrain from any attempt of conducting Local Government Elections in Jos North and Bassa LGAs for the time being until there is much more stable peace and calm.”

But on its part, the state Police Command assured residents that there will be tight security before, during and after the forthcoming election In a statement by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Gabriel Uba, the Command said that the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Edward Egbuka has ordered massive deployment of Police personnel to all the polling units and other strategic areas to provide tight security before, during and after the forthcoming Local Government Elections across the 17 LGAs.

Similarly, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Plateau State Command, has assured that the corps will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the forth coming local government’s elections in the state are hitch-free.

The state Commandant, Mr. Alexander Barunde encouraged citizens to exercise their civic duties in accordance to the laid down rules and regulations guiding the elections as prescribed by the state independent electoral commission (PLASIEC).

Meanwhile, Governor Simon Lalong in a state-wide broadcast warned that “Those who are bent on causing trouble with a view to disrupting the process or causing pain on the people should shelve the idea because they will not be allowed to succeed. Government has directed security agencies to deal decisively with anyone who threatens the lives and properties of law abiding citizens using this election as a cover.”

He said: “PLASIEC has assured all citizens, candidates and political parties of its preparedness to conduct free, fair and transparent elections in line with the constitution and other relevant guidelines. They have also reaffirmed their readiness to deploy its trained personnel and ad-hoc staff to all the polling units to conduct the exercise.

“Government welcomes this assurance by PLASIEC and hopes that all citizens, political parties and their candidates will cooperate with the electoral umpire to carry out this task in a peaceful, safe and unbiased manner.”