Usman Baba-Alkali, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), has asked political parties and politicians to enable the police to regulate their campaign activities for the 2023 general elections as political parties ramp up for election season.
Speaking to pressmen in Maiduguri, Borno state, Baba-Alkali said the appeal was made to prevent any potential breakdown of law and order.
He clarified that he wasn’t saying this to pressure parties into obtaining permits before to campaigning or holding rallies, but rather to offer security for those activities and provide advice on other parties’ campaign dates to prevent conflicts.
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The IGP said, “I want to beg the politicians and political parties to give us the opportunity to regulate their processions, rallies and campaigns so that they do not have a clash.”
Baba-Alkali asserted that the request was made merely to protect everyone’s interests and that “it’s a matter of regulating for everyone’s advantage, to prevent things from spiraling out of control.”
The IGP reaffirmed the force’s commitment to securing the 2023 election while announcing that no politician or political party would be permitted to employ phony security personnel.
He emphasized the importance of community policing and said that the 10,000 police officers the force had previously hired had been dispersed to their various Local Government Areas (LGAs) to improve community policing.
“Right now we have another 10,000 recruits undergoing training that we hope to graduate before the election,” Baba-Alkali said.
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He recognized the importance of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in Borno’s community policing efforts, where they were instrumental in alerting the government to rebel activity in their neighborhoods.
The force’s victories against Boko-Haram, he continued, couldn’t have been conceivable without the injection of CJTF.
“The CJTF assisted greatly as they know who is who in the area and led security to flush them out. That is what we want to copy, as security is all about everybody playing his quota, what your next neighbour is doing must interest you,” the IGP said.
Baba-Alkali, who is in Borno for a two-day business trip, also cut ribbons on a number of law enforcement initiatives in Beneshiek and Maiduguri.
You may remember that the IGP met with police commissioners and other senior officers in Abuja last month to discuss matters pertaining to the general election of 2023.
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Deputy IGs, CPs from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as other top police personnel, attended the IG’s Conference.
In order for the police to engage in an all-inclusive strategy to re-evaluate policing techniques against the backdrop of the dynamics of crime in the country, the conference was focused on deconstructing present law enforcement realities.
The IG added that the conference’s primary goal was to assess the evolving political programs as outlined by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and to set forth clear directions to guarantee a successful electoral process as we approach the general election of 2023.
“As you are aware, in compliance with Sec. 94(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, INEC has confirmed that electioneering campaigns by all political parties would officially commence on September 28, 2022,” he said.
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According to a report in Punch Newspaper by the IGP, the significance of this is that the national political space will soon become active, raising the prospect of a rise in politically linked offenses around the nation.
And that the Nigeria Police Force is legally required to act as the principal security agency in the electoral security process and the political campaigns’ security governance.
The police chiefs present, he said, are solely responsible for providing the necessary professional leadership to carry out the election security mandate. He also said that the Electoral Act of 2022 and the Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement for Security Personnel on Electoral Duty, both of which were issued in 2020 by the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, must remain a guide.
He said, “These two election security instruments grouped the mandate of the police into four key fields as follows: Ensuring the safety and security of all persons and properties that will be involved in the entire electoral process without bias.
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“Strict enforcement of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Criminal/Penal Code as well as the electoral laws without fear or favour; Security, traffic, and crowd management at venues of political parties’ campaigns, rallies and other activities relating to the elections. The security of the public space towards guaranteeing a crime-free and enabling environment for the political campaigns and other components of the electoral process to thrive.”
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