Thugs Mobilised Ahead Of Bayelsa, Kogi Governorship Elections – INEC Claims

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that thugs have already been mobilised to mar activities of the governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, made this known on Friday while speaking at the quarterly meeting of the inter-agency consultative committee on election security (ICCES) in Abuja.

He said: “There are already warning signals in the two sates (which) are politically volatile. Our own risk assessment which will be shared with the security agencies at this meeting has identified some flash points.

“We are also concerned that thugs have been mobilised from within and outside the states with the aim of either influencing the elections or disrupting the process on behalf of partisan sponsors.

“This calls for a robust response before the elections, on election day and during the process of collation and declaration of results.”

He said there must be swift response by security agencies to tackle desperate acts by political actors with a view to disrupting elections and subverting the will of the electorate.

“If that happens, many Nigerians will blame the electoral umpire and the security agencies. We must continue to rise to this challenge.

“Over the last seven months, we have been working assiduously to ensure that we conduct credible elections. We cannot undermine the processes we have so laboriously established.

“We have been reassured by the security agencies that election day activities at polling units and collation centres will not be disrupted by the activities of hoodlums neither will thugs be allowed to cart away results sheets or compel our returning officers to make declarations under duress.

“We are equally re-assured that security personnel will adhere strictly to the standard operational guidelines and deal decisively with misconduct by their personnel on election duty,” he stressed.