Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd)
By Matthew Onah
Fifteen thousand additional policemen drawn from Gombe, Taraba, Enugu and Benue State Police Commands have been deployed in Adamawa State as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducts governorship election in the state tomorrow.
Frontline candidates in the election are the immediate past governor of the state contesting on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd), and Brig-Gen Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd.) of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
Also, a group of election monitors under the aegis of Project Swift Count involving the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) has asked the Federal Government to deploy adequate security agents to ensure that there is no breakdown of law and order during the election.
Consequently, security has been beefed up throughout the state as policemen have begun a stop-and-search operation at various points across major streets of the Yola metropolis.
The Adamawa State Police Command’s spokeswoman, Altine Daniels, an assistant superintendent of police, said the inter-agency committee on election security had mapped out adequate measures to ensure peaceful conduct of the election.
She said with the reinforcement from other states, the command was now ready for the election.
Appealing to politicians to reign in their supporters to remain peaceful throughout the election period, she warned that any breach of the law by any person, would not be condoned by the police.
The election monitors said their request for more security personnel to be deployed in the state was because of the concerns of recent reports of violence in some parts of the state.
Project Swift Count's 1st Co-chair, Mr. Dafe Akpedeye, said there is the need to ensure that the election is conducted under a free atmosphere devoid of fear and intimidation.
The Project is made up of representatives of the Federa-tion of Muslim Women's Association (FOMWAN), Justice, Develop-ment, Peace/Caritas (JDPC), NBA and TMG.
In a press conference Thursday in Abuja, Akpedeye said security during the election is very critical especially during voting, vote counting and transmission of results.
"Voters must be able to vote without fear and election observers must be able to observe without intimidation. Candidates must also be able to campaign without the fear that they or their supporters will be killed or harmed," he said.
In the same vein, Akpedeye said the security agents to be deployed must not allow themselves to be used by any individual or group to intimidate and harass voters at polling booths.
He also appealed to INEC to ensure that the election is conducted in a transparent manner in order to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.
He charged INEC to adhere strictly to guidelines in order to avoid creating credibility and legitimacy problem.
Meanwhile, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) governorship candidate in tomorrow’s election, Alhaji Usman Belel, has withdrawn from the race, barely 48 hours to the voting date.
He blamed his withdrawal on what he called prohibitive cost of elections in the country.
Belel, who addressed a press conference yesterday, said he regretted to say that he could not continue with his ambition because he lacked the resources to do things he had considered necessary that could have given the party some mileage in the election.