Security remains a very important aspect of elections as it determines the safety of Election materials, Officials, Electorates and every other election stakeholder. As a matter of fact, Elections may not happen without adequate security of all election stakeholders before, during and after the elections.
To ensure successful deployment of observers and effective all-round security in the state, WatchingTheVote team paid and Advocacy visit to the Commissioner, Ekiti State Police Command, Bello Ahmed. The team which consist of Board members Prof. Nnamdi Aduba, Dr. Chris Kwaja, Ezenwa Nwagwu, Management members Cynthia Mbamalu, Project Director, Safiya Bichi, Pre-Election Observation and Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, Training Manager Paul James discussed extensively on security plans ahead of the elections.
The Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command Bello Ahmed was delighted to receive the WatchingTheVote team members saying the Police are open to partnership for a successful and a hitch free elections observation in the state. Mr Ahmed also reiterated that YIAGA Africa’s WatchingTheVote observers will get all the needed support from the security agency and also encouraged all observers to have their accreditation tag during election observation.
As it is expected that Security apparatus becomes more effective via inter-agency collaboration, our WatchingTheVote team followed this with an advocacy visit to the Commandant Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Ekiti State Command, Solomon T. Iyamu. The team shared its election observation deployment plan with NSCDC and highlighted the importance of security in the cause of election observation.
The Commandant, Mr Iyamu welcomed YIAGA AFRICA’s Election observation initiative saying YIAGA Africa is a very strategic partner and the Civil Defence is willing to support every legal way to achieve its objectives for the elections.
The team also paid homage to the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Kabayesi Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe Aladesanmi III to discuss its deployment plan ahead of the July 14th Elections.
