JUST IN: Police condone off INEC office as collation of Rivers guber poll results’ begins

A detachment of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other security agencies have condoned off the premises of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), located on the Aba/Port Harcourt road in Rivers state, as the commission resumes collation of March 9 governorship election results.

The popular GRA and Waterlines roads leading to INEC office were shutdown while motorists are diverted to adjourning routes.

INEC had at a stakeholders meeting held on Saturday in Port Harcourt said it would commence collation of governorship results on Tuesday.

The spokesperson for Rivers state Police Command, Nnamdi Omoni, said security has been beefed up across the state as INEC commences the collation of the Gubernatorial and House of Assembly Election results, which began today.

He said the state Commissioner of Police and the Chairman of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), Usman  Belel, after a meeting of the agency and other bodies superintending over the elections, agreed to put in place adequate security measures, to ensure that the entire process  is transparent and seamlessly carried out.

He said part of the security measures put in place, as agreed by the agencies, include massive deployments of police personnel and other sister security agencies to the venue and the outer perimeter of the Collation Centre, total closure of the Aba/Port Harcourt Express Road, the stretch from the Waterlines to the GRA junctions, both in and outwards of the roads.

He said the Commissioner of Police, has noted with concern, the temporary hardship the closure will cause and appealed to the public to show understanding and bear with  the command saying that  the closure is done in the overall interest of the public and aimed at providing conducive atmosphere for the collation exercise.

He warned politicians, candidates and unauthorized persons to stay clear from the Collation Centre adding that “any person or group whose act or omission undermines the process will be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the Electoral Act.”