IGP Idris to politicians: Refrain from electoral crises

The Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Kpotun-Idris, has appealed to politicians to refrain from actions that would jeopardize the conduct and outcome of the 2019 general elections in the country.
Idris made the appeal on Thursday in Oshogbo during a one-day sensitization workshop for police officers, politicians, civil society organizations, media and other stakeholders.
The top police boss said such activities such as sponsorship of political thuggery, wearing party vestments and other insignias as well as contravening other electoral infringements were capable of scoring the elections low by international observers and civil society organizations.
He called on all stakeholders to play by the rules during the elections, warning that defaulters would not be spared.
According to him, the sensitization is aimed at highlighting the duties of the police both during and after the elections.
He assured that the police would ensure strict surveillance of both electoral materials and security of lives and property during and after the polls.
Idris, therefore, called for the support of the stakeholders in achieving the goals of securing the elections by the police.
He appealed to participants at the workshop to be liberal with ideas on how to police the elections, pointing out that such ideas were useful in deployment of personnel.
“Such information will complement the usual intelligence on election security,” pointing out that large deployments of police personnel were usually made in accordance with security spendings in localities.
He explained that police actions during elections “are usually guided by intelligence gathering, deployments are made to avert thuggery and other infringements of the electoral laws.
He said during the Ekiti gubernatorial elections, critics lambasted the police for deploying over 30,000 personnel to the state but insisted that the deployment was necessary to avert thuggery during and after the polls.