2023: IGP convenes senior officers’ retreat on peaceful elections

In a bid to ensure stability in internal security and create a safe environment conducive for the conduct of the 2023 general elections the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Baba, has approved the third edition of the Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers.

Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a press statement, Tuesday in Abuja, said: “The Conference and Retreat with the theme: The Imperative of a Nigeria Police Strategic Plan For Peaceful Elections’ is scheduled to hold from 18-21 October, 2022.

“The Conference and Retreat will assemble Senior Police Officers of the rank of Deputy Inspectors-General of Police (DIG), Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIG), Commissioners of Police (CP) and other Heads of Police Formations and carefully selected security and election management experts across the globe to engage in peer-review and cross fertilisation of ideas on effective management of security before, during, and after the general election in 2023.

“The retreat will also provide ample opportunity for senior officers of the Force to interact with key officials from sister security agencies, the nation’s electoral body and international development partners with a view to coordinating security towards free, fair, and credible general elections in Nigeria.”

He further stated that, “The Conference and Retreat is expected to host the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari, who will declare the conference open and deliver the keynote address.

“Other guests expected at the event are State Governors, Service Chiefs, Heads of other Security Agencies and past Inspectors-General of Police.”

Adejobi recalled that the last edition of the conference and retreat was held in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital on February 7-10, 2022.

“The Inspector-General of Police was consulting with Matchmakers Consult International for a seamless conference,” he added.

Meanwhile, the IGP has also approved a train-the-trainers workshop for officers from the rank of Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP) to Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP) on election security management.

Adejobi said the training, which would cascade down to the least Police Constable, would hold from August 4 to August 31, 2022, across the six geo-political zones of the country as part of initiatives towards deepening the knowledge of police officers on election security operations for a peaceful, secured and credible electoral process.