Stakeholders in the Nigeria project have been urged to contribute their quota towards ensuring public safety and peaceful conduct of 2023 general election in the country.
Asafa Rafiu, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 8, Lokoja, who stated this recently while delivering a lecture during his familiarisation visit of Police formation in Ilorin, Kwara State, posited that procedures must be followed to ensure sanity in the polity, and that all stakeholders should follow the rules in their conduct during and after the period of the election.
He urged the politicians to ensure their campaigns are issue-based devoid of rancour and acrimony, adding that politicians should enlighten the youth and engage them in election-related exercise to reduce their temptations to get involved in election-related violence.
The AIG said that the police have put in place measures to actualise the dream of President Muhammadu Buhari of ensuring peaceful and credible conduct of 2023 general election.
“Security is everyone’s business. We are all stakeholders, thus, we must play our part. Parents should caution their children, youth must be positively engaged, security agencies must render their services effectively and efficiently, media should report election procedure and process adequately and accurately.
“We are fully prepared to ensure free and fair election. Training and retraining of personnel is what we are doing now for the police and they would be deployed to different areas for election.
“So, we are saying no to election turgery and no to election rigging. Everyone should have attitudenal change for the betterment of our country,” he declared.
Earlier, in his welcome address, the Commisssioner of Police Kwara State Command, Paul Odama said the command has adopted the use of the IGP community Policing strategy to ensure safety and security.
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The Kwara police boss while appreciating the AIG for the visit, informed that with the effort of police and the support of the state government, criminal activities have reduced, promising to maintain peace and harmony which the state stands for.
In his remarks, the Chairman Kwara State Police Community Relations Committee(PCRC), Adebayo Lawal appealed to the police authority to increase the number of man power and logistics for the police in the state.
