The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Kaduna state command, on Saturday met with representatives of various stakeholders in the state towards ensuring peaceful 2019 polls.
The stakeholders include: the National Association Nigerian Students (NANS), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), among others.
Speaking at the meeting, the Commissioner, Police Service Commission (PSC), Hajiya Naja’atu, said, “As the elections season draw to a close, it is essential that we draw the attention of the public and all stakeholders in the upcoming election on the general conduct of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) during the exercise.
“The NPF is the foremost agency tasked with providing visible security during the election. Thus, the PSC is therefore very interested in how the police conduct themselves in this all-important task of ensuring the credibility of the process.”
She said the PSC will ensure best practices in postings carried out towards this election in order to strengthen our democracy.
According to her, “The commission will not hesitate to act on any complaint that arises from public as a result of any illegality and to effectively discharge these functions.
“The following guidelines must be observed for every officer on duty including alertness, approachability, professionalism, maintenance of impartiality, fairness, use of force, communication with superiors and commanders.”
She said every police officer on election duty is expected to have a good working knowledge of the electoral law, adding that police on duty must wear their identification tags in a visible manner.
Muhammad said the PSC is well aware of past allegations of some unprofessional conduct by errant members of the police force in previous elections.
“For this other reason, the PSC will set up and create awareness hotlines for complaint by citizens. We urge Nigerians to report acts of indisciplined and lack of professionalism by any member of the police force to the commission for quick resolution,” she urged.
She added that the PSC will be monitoring the general conduct of police officers in the 2019 election with a view to ascertain professionalism in order to ensure the credibility of the electoral process.
Earlier, in his remarks, the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Abdur-Rahman, assured the stakeholders that the police in Kaduna will be fair and just to all political parties as well as provide level-playing ground to all.
He called on the stakeholders to give security personnel maximum support for free, fair and credible elections.
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