Victor Ogunje
The Ekiti State Police Command has debunked the accusation that its men and officers hijacked the process for the conduct of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) adhoc delegate congress held last Saturday in the state.
The Police Commissioner (CP), Babatunde Mobayo, said his men and officers only provided security across the 16 local governments for smooth conduct of the congress, saying they were neither partisan nor biased.
Controversy had trailed the congress conducted in Ekiti on Saturday, with stakeholders, including former Governor Segun Oni, Senator Biodun Olujimi, Prof Kolapo Eleka and others rejecting the outcome and accused the Committee sent by Abuja office of the party of favouring former governor Ayodele Fayose.
But in a statement in Ado Ekiti yesterday and signed by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Sunday Abutu, the Police boss clarified that the party conducted the congress after which a copy of the result was given to the Police by the PDP officials.
Dispelling the tag of partisanship being attached to the police during the Congress, Mobayo, said : “The attention of the Ekiti State Police Command has been drawn to a content circulating around that the Command declared the result of the just concluded PDP delegate Congress in Ekiti State.
“As this may sound ignorable, the Command wishes to react in order to put the story in the right shape and avoid misconception.
“The election, which was conducted on 15th January, 2022, had three major actors which are: (a) the Party leaders that conducted the election (b) the INEC Officials that monitored the election and (c) the Police/other security agents that provided security.
“In order to ensure adequate security across the State throughout the period of the election, the Force Headquarters, Abuja, approved additional manpower from neighboring States to cover the exercise and the total number of Police personnel and other Security agents that embarked on the exercise were adequately and timely deployed to all the Local Governments and Hotel that was used as the secretariat for election material distribution by the party.
“Moreso, the Police escorted all the election materials to the Local Government Areas and without mincing words, there was no breakdown of law and order during the exercise”.
Mobayo added that to keep the record straight, the role of the Police was chiefly to provide adequate security, the responsibility, he said, the Command discharged peacefully and successfully.
