Police Professionalism Key to Successful 2019 Polls, Says Ex-Police IG

Former Inspector General of Police and Chairman of the Police

Service Commission (PSC), Alhaji Musiliu Smith, on Wednesday stated that if the forth-coming general election must be adjudged free, fair, credible and widely accepted, the personnel of the Nigeria Police Force who are in the forefront of providing security must display a high level of professionalism.

Smith, who maintained that adequate security is crucial in delivering free and fair elections, said police personnel and other security

agents deployed to guarantee peace and security must prove themselves

capable of delivering on their task.

The former IG, who spoke at a security summit in Abuja organised by the PSC in conjunction with the Nigeria Policing Programme (NPP), warned that the commission would not hesitate to deal with any police officer involved in electoral malpractices.

“No doubt, we cannot expect to have a successful 2019 elections where

professionalism, particularly on the part of the men of the Nigeria

Police Force is not ensured and enhanced through a framework that will

promote impressive performance and conduct.

“During the past general elections in Nigeria whenever things do not

go so well, police conduct is often seen even if erroneously as being

the reason for the flawed elections. However, when elections are adjudged as free and fair, the police are hailed as being professional

and doing a great job,” he said.

Smith said in realisation of the crucial role the police play in

guaranteeing a successful election, the PSC has put in place several

actions and activities aimed at ensuring that the police provide

security in a manner that will enhance and strengthen the country’s

democracy.

According to him, the commissioners of the Police Service Commission

representing the geopolitical zones and vital interests in the last

couple of weeks have been going around the country meeting with men

and women of the Nigeria Police Force on how to professionally secure

the forthcoming elections.

In addition, the former IG said the PSC is creating awareness among

the electorate and Nigerians generally on what the role of police

officers during the elections should be, noting that the commission

would deploy monitors across the 36 states and the Federal Capital

Territory (FCT) as well as the opening of dedicated telephone hot

lines to enable citizens make prompt reports in the event they

observed any misconduct by any police officer.

“The police Service Commission will in turn ensure that such reports

are processed and sanctions meted out to any erring officer if the

alleged act is proven."

In his remarks, Deputy Team Leader, Nigeria Policing Programme (NPP),

Idris Bawa, said the summit was timely owing to the importance of the 2019 elections to the sustenance of Nigeria’s democracy.

He disclosed that his organization, working with the PSC and the

Police Force is doing everything possible to prepare the police

adequately for the elections.

“We have a deployment plan that has been developed; we have done

threat assessment across the whole state working with the Nigerian

police with other NGOs. All those flash points that have been

identified, we are making deployment to see how they can be checkmate,” he said.

All paramilitary organisations in the country were represented at the security summit.