The Nigerian Army said yesterday that soldiers would be on standby to forestall possible violence in today’s council elections in Rivers.
Col. Aminu Iliyasu, Spokesman of the Nigerian Army 6 Division, Port Harcourt, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) soldiers would be deployed at strategic points several kilometres away from polling centres.
Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai / AFP
He explained that the army was adopting that position because “we are not directly involved in the election and no soldier is going to be deployed for any election duty”.
According to Iliyasu, it is only the Police and Department of State Security that have the constitutional responsibility to provide security in the election.
“However, we are always on alert whenever there is election. We will only be on standby at the periphery in case our services are needed,” he said.
Iliyasu said that soldiers were banned from going into polling centres and escort polling materials to the centres.
Meanwhile, some political parties participating in today’s Local Government (LG) elections have vowed to sue the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) for allegedly “violating almost all” of its guideline over the exercise.
In a communique read by Warigbani Ezekiel, Chairman, All Progressives Democratic Alliance, the protesting parties said, “It is suspicious for RSIEC to distribute materials in absence of party agents.
“In the history of elections in Nigeria, especially in Rivers, it is a constitutional right for all political parties and their agents to sight sensitive and non sensitive materials before distribution to the various local government areas.
“It is sad to note that RSIEC distributed these materials with impunity to the various local government areas without consent of any political party and their agents, thereby creating vacuum for suspicion”
The body also said it would sue RSIEC over violation of Section 7 of its guidelines for withholding grants meant for political parties over the conduct of the elections.
“It is unfortunate that same RSIEC violated almost all sections, especially Section 7 Page 10 of the RISIEC Guidelines which stipulates that political parties shall be eligible for grants fixed by the commission for the purpose of conducting primaries for nomination of candidates for the 2018 LG elections.
“This was completely violated, but having treated us so abysmally, none of us is going to boycott the elections because we have candidates across the board, but RISIEC must do the right thing, respect the law because we are interested in the welfare of the state.
In a related development, Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC)yesterday barred media coverage of today’s elections in the state, threatening arrest of journalists who reported the exercise unfavourably.
It took the state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Emma Okah’s intervention for the commission to make alternative arrangements to ensure journalists safely cover the exercise.
The commission which, in a broadcast yesterday, restricted dawn to dusk movement over today’s exercise, told members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) that is had no accreditation and press passes to guarantee their free movement to cover the polls.
The bemused correspondents were however shocked to find vendors hawking press passes for the exercise for between N500 and N1,000 in front of the commission’s premises opposite Bori Camp, Aba Road, Port Harcourt.
The NUJ Correspondent Chapel had in a response to Thursday’s directive by RSIEC Director, Media and Publicity, Sarah Amgbari submitted a list of members for the purpose of procuring their press accreditation promised to be ready Friday.
A delegation of the chapel led by its Chairman, Ernest Chinwo, who went to pick up the accreditation, were however turned back by Amgbari who said she had no cards for the national media. She specifically warned the Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the NUJ, Ernest Chinwo, that he would be held responsible for any negative story and that she would ensure his arrest and detention.
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