Anambra: No mercy for those bent on disrupting  guber poll, NSA charges security agencies

.As Ifeanyi Uba tasks FG on Nnamdi Kanu

 Anambra: Don’t spare any rogue jeopardising the election – Monguno charges security agencies

 

 

Obiora Ifoh, Abuja

 

Ahead of the November 6 Anambra governorship election, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno has ordered the security agencies not to spare any rogue elements who tries to jeopardise the smooth conduct of the election.

 

Monguno gave the warning at a Special Meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) on Anambra Governorship election at the Independent National Electoral  Commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday.

 

The NSA who is also the Co-Chair of ICCES in his remarks said no act of lawlessness will be accepted cautioning elements within Anambra not to do anything that will harm the process. He said no security agents or officers will be exempted from being penalized once it is established that anyone is found flouting the law.

He said: ”This will not be accepted. Law enforcement agencies have been asked to watch out for such elements because what you start, you don’t know how it will end.

“There is no need to embark on an exercise of self-delusion, futility, or some form of a tangle. Please, I’m appealing to you all brothers, stay within your wards, your local government and let us have a peaceful election for the security agencies in the wards. Any rogue element that decides to behave in a manner that will tar our collective institutions in a very dark color will be brought to justice in accordance with the rules of those institutions.

“Do not do anything that will harm this process. Finally, I want to encourage agents of the Independent National Electoral Commission, I know you’ve gone through a lot of pain, a lot of losses, with your colleagues from the Nigeria police force and other agencies do not allow what has happened in the past to dampen your spirits, do not allow it to push you into a state of lethargy. Please continue to support the leadership of INEC and let us get this job done. I wish you fruitful deliberations

“We all know how important this exercise is, not only for those of us who are supposed to ensure hitch-free exercise but for the people who are expected to vote. This is what we know to be the greatest optimization of what every citizen should aspire to. It is the number one legitimate expectation and right of every citizen and we must not deny anybody that right to exercise his civic duty, not just to exercise it, but to exercise it in an atmosphere devoid of rancor devoid of apprehension, tension, and all those factors that lead to suspicion and people ending up in courts or even into violence”, he stated.

 

Earlier, the Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu also urged the Anambra people to conduct themselves properly in the governorship election saying the choice of electing the next governor lies in their hands.

Yakubu said that since the last meeting of ICCES so much has been achieved and its preparations for the election have been going on unhindered, adding that it is the tradition of ICCES to review preparations on the eve of every off-season Governorship election where the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) and the Commissioner of Police of the State come to brief the Commission on electoral and security preparations as a routine pre-election activity

The INEC boss also congratulated the news sworn-in National Commissioners of the Commission advising them to remain committed and dedicated to their duties as work INEC is done earnestly with all sense of vigor.

According to him: ”I wish to register the profound gratitude of the Commission for the support we have received from religious, traditional and community leaders for peaceful elections.

“The Commission is also working with the National Peace Committee under the leadership of our respected former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar GCFR, to bring all political parties and candidates for the Anambra State Governorship election to commit to peace before, during, and after the elections.

“We appreciate this wide-ranging support and I wish to reassure the registered voters in Anambra State that the choice of the next Governor lies in their hands. I urge all and sundry to play their part in ensuring a free, fair, credible and peaceful governorship election in Anambra State

“Would like to warmly welcome members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to this meeting. As some of you are probably aware, two INEC National Commissioners were sworn in this afternoon by the President.

“Let me, therefore, welcome to the Commission, and introduce to ICCES, Kunle Cornelius Ajayi, a Professor of Political Science at the Ekiti State University, and Muhammad Sani Kallah, a retired Professor of Ecology and Range Management at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria as the new National Commissioners representing the South West and North West geo-political zones respectively. As the new National Commissioners can see, work in INEC begins in earnest. You have joined the Commission on the eve of a major election and your first activity is this ICCES meeting. Next week, we will move to the field in Anambra State. You are welcome to INEC”, he said.

Yajubu noted that the Commission has successfully completed 12 tasks out of 14 except 2 which are meant for the election day, stressing that INEC is determined and fully prepared to proceed with the Anambra Governorship election. He said the Anambra Resident Electoral Commissioner is with the commission to brief it of preparations as it is customary of the process before any election.

“The 2021 Anambra State Governorship election is held in the next 12 days on 6th November 2021. Our deployment of non-sensitive materials and training of personnel for the election have virtually been concluded. The Commission has successfully accomplished 12 out of the 14 activities listed in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election released in January this year.

The two outstanding activities are the last day of the campaign, at midnight on Thursday 4th November 2021, and Election Day which remains Saturday 6th November 2021. The REC for Anambra State is here to fully provide an update on the implementation of other activities and INEC’s general state of readiness for the election.

“INEC is determined to proceed with the Anambra State Governorship election as scheduled. The safety and protection of voters, our personnel, accredited observers, the media, and materials are cardinal considerations in any election.

We have been assured by the security agencies of a secure environment for the election. I am sure the CP Anambra State in his briefing, will provide more details regarding preparations on the ground. I wish to place on record the continued support of security agencies to the Commission during elections.

“Particularly noteworthy is the high level of professional conduct of the agencies in the last two major elections in Edo and Ondo States. Indeed, Edo and Ondo have become the standard for securing elections in Nigeria. The professionalism and neutrality exhibited by the security agencies in the two elections have been widely praised nationally and internationally. We are confident that this will be replicated in Anambra State”.

The Commission however said it wishes to register the profound gratitude of the Commission for the support they have received from religious, traditional, and community leaders for peaceful elections.

“The Commission is also working with the National Peace Committee under the leadership of our respected former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar GCFR, to bring all political parties and candidates for the

Anambra State Governorship election to commit to peace before, during, and after the elections. We appreciate this wide-ranging support and I wish to reassure the registered voters in Anambra State that the choice of the next Governor lies in their hands. I urge all and sundry to play their part in ensuring a free, fair, credible, and peaceful Governorship election in Anambra State”, he said.

Meanwhile, Ifeanyi Ubah, senator representing Anambra south, has explained why he’s seeking a court order to visit Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in detention.

 

The senator, through Agugoesi Ikem, his counsel, had filed a motion on October 15 to visit Kanu in DSS custody.

 

“An order of this honourable court granting leave to Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah to visit the defendant, Nnamdi Kanu, as part of his legislative oversight function,” the notice had read.

 

Speaking with Arise TV on Monday, Ubah said his goal was to engage the IPOB leader to “get him to talk to his people” about their stand on the Anambra governorship election.

 

The proscribed group had threatened to lock down the south-east if Kanu is not released from detention by November 4.

 

The proposed sit-at-home protest would affect the Anambra governorship election which is billed for November 6.

 

Ubah, who is the candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in the election, said, “IPOB is a very big force,” adding that he hopes to persuade them “to look into the issue” because boycotting the election “doesn’t really help our people”.

 

You must understand that Nnamdi Kanu has a lot of followership in the south-east. So, the government should take him seriously. But we are engaging and finding political solutions to this issue. We are engaging with IPOB and showing them the importance of this election. The most important thing is that the election is constitutional, and I’m also very much sure that on the day of the election, there would be a peaceful election in Anambra state,” the senator said.

 

“I’m the only politician that’s working hard to see the reader of the indigenous people of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, so that I can also have the opportunity of talking to him and get him to talk to his people to look into the issue. Because the election is constitutional, and if really anybody loves our people, they shouldn’t be saying there’ll be no election.

 

“It doesn’t really help our people. If there’s no election, there will be voters apathy, and somebody might come in and then do something that might not augur well.

 

“IPOB is a very big force because most of them are not even in Nigeria. And they have their way with the media, and people are listening to them. So, that’s why I have dedicated myself to how we can bring in and proffer a political solution.”