The Nigerian Police Force has asked voters in the ongoing Edo State gubernatorial election to return home after casting their ballots.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Frank Mba, said this while featuring on the special edition of Channels Television’s Politics for the Edo election.
Daily Trust reports that some political leaders had urged Edo electorates to cast their votes and protect it to avoid malpractice.
Former Nigeria’s Vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, while speaking in Benin, admonished Edo state electorate to defend their votes during Saturday poll.
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“You can’t come and steal vote here in Edo. Therefore, protect your vote, defend your votes, make sure your votes are entered.
“Escort your votes and make sure they are announced, and if you do that, no body can change your votes and you are winning come September 21,” Atiku said.
But Mba insisted that voters must cast their votes and return home, adding that only those accredited to move around would be allowed to do so.
“It is important for parents and for everybody to know that if you are not accredited to carry out any of the functions related to the election, you should not be out on the street. Just come, go out there, perform your civic duties, cast your vote and return to your home,” Mba said.
On tackling vote buying, the DIG acknowledged that vote buying is one of the most difficult offences to manage, but promised to deal with offenders.
“Vote buying is one of the most difficult offences to actually police and manage and I am saying this with every sense of honesty,” DIG Mba said.
“The reason is simple, the bulk of vote buying and selling that takes place don’t take place in the glare of the public, in the glare of the media, in the glare of the law enforcement agents. Sometimes, they take place in the bedrooms of citizens and we don’t have the capacity to police every bedroom, every kitchen, every toilet and every balcony.
“But our pledge is that the ones that happen in the glare of the public, the ones our security network are able to detect and intercept, we will deal with them.”
Earlier, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun directed the restriction of movement in Edo ahead of the poll in the state.
To maintain the integrity of the electoral process, the IGP also placed a ban on all security aides and escorts accompanying VIPs to polling booths and collation centres.
In a statement by the force’s Public Relations Officer, Olumiyiwa Adejobi, said the IGP ordered the restriction of all vehicular movement on roads, waterways, and other forms of transportation from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm on election day.
The statement said exceptions will be made for essential services, including accredited media, electoral officials, ambulances, and emergency responders.
There are 17 candidates jostling for the exalted seat at the Dennis Osadebe House in Benin City.
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