PSC, Police Set Up Separate Monitoring Teams for National Polls

•Commission warns officers not to serve as conductor for vote buying

•IG appoints VP Interpol to head monitoring team

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Nigeria Police, yesterday, announced the setting up of separate election monitoring groups as the feud between the two agencies festered.

The PSC, however, warned police personnel against misconduct during the election and to avoid being used as conductor for vote buying.

A statement by the spokesman of the commission, Ikechukwu Ani, said the commission would deploy staff monitors to the 774 Local Government Areas of the country to monitor the conduct of police officers on election duties during the 2023 general election holding Saturday, February 25th and March 11th 2023.

It said the commission had the constitutional mandate to discipline, and exercise  control over officers of the Nigeria Police Force except the Inspector General of Police, amongst other constitutional responsibilities.

The commission said it “will monitor the conduct of these officers to ensure that they operate within defined rules of engagement prescribed for officers on election duties.

“The commission believes that the success or not of the 2023 general elections largely depends on how effective and efficient the police, the lead agency in internal security are, and to maximise the benefits of inter-agency collaboration with other security agencies,” it said.

The commission further stated that, “Guidelines on police conduct during the elections will soon be released by the commission to guide policemen, who will be involved in election security.

“The commission will also release dedicated telephone numbers where Nigerians will be required to call to complain or commend police officers during the elections.”

It warned that police officers found negligent or involved outright in official misconduct would be disciplined in line with the provisions of the law.

“Police officers are advised to restrict themselves to providing security during the elections and should not engage in serving as conductors for vote buying or other misconducts.

“The commission will continue to hold the police accountable for its conduct or misconduct during the elections as its contribution to deepening the nation’s democracy,” he said.

In a separate statement by the Force Public Relations Officer and Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Nigeria Police said the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, approved the setting up of an election planning, monitoring and evaluation team for deployment across the states of the federation to identify, analyse and mitigate threats as well as carry out on-the-spot assessment and appraisal of the security emplacements ahead of the 2023 general election.

It said the IG also appointed the Vice President (INTERPOL) and Head, National Crime Bureau (NCB), AIG Garba Baba Umar, as the National Coordinator of the team of experienced and seasoned police officers with vast knowledge in election security management to be assisted by other team members including the AIG Force Secretary, AIG Habu Sani, CP Election Monitoring, CP Basil Idegwu, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi.

The team comprised of seven other Commissioners of Police, 15 Deputy Commissioners of Police, 30 Assistant Commissioners of Police, 30 Chief Superintendents of Police, and 16 strategic officers of other ranks.

The statement stated that, the IG reaffirmed the establishment and viability of the electoral offences desks domiciled at the State Criminal Investigation Departments (SCID) of all commands across the nation headed by the Assistant Commissioners of Police in charge of the SCID.

“The IGP, while reiterating the commitment of the police to ensuring that the elections are safe, secure, credible, and in line with global best practices, tasked the team to, amongst other things, ensure the propriety of deployments, give real-time coverage of the electoral process, and safeguard against hostile external and internal influence using Interpol, anti-cybercrime and intelligence tools and assets of the Nigeria Police Force.

“The Inspector-General of Police, therefore, calls on well-meaning Nigerians, international communities and all stakeholders to support the NPF teams in all areas, particularly on intelligence sharing and regular engagements, to achieve success in the 2023 general elections,” the statement stated.