Phone: +234-7067899368

Preliminary Statement on Conduct of Security Personnel on Election Duty during the Ongoing 2024 Ondo State Governorship Election

Preliminary Statement on Conduct of Security Personnel on Election Duty during the Ongoing 2024 Ondo State Governorship Election

Preliminary Statement on Conduct of Security Personnel on Election Duty during the Ongoing 2024 Ondo State Governorship Election

 

Saturday, 16 November, 2024

Released 2:00 pm

 

Introduction

Election is a critical component of democracy, providing citizens the opportunity to express their will in the selection of democratic leaders and shape the governance of their society.  Ondo state 2024 governorship election is one of the staggered elections in the country and has attracted interest from within and outside the country. The preparedness and discharge of constitutional responsibilities of stakeholders especially the Independent Electoral Commission and Nigeria Police Force therefore becomes imperative in ensuring the will of the people of Ondo state is protected barring and mitigating any incursion from political actors.

CLEEN Foundation being a leading Civil Society Organization on Election Security Management in Nigeria has deployed observers to the 18 LGAs of the state to primarily observe the conduct of security personnel that have been deployed for the purpose of the election. CLEEN’s engagement with police hierarchy during the Foundation’s public dissemination of the Election Security Threat Assessment showed that the police deployed thirty-six thousand (36,000) personnel with about unarmed 15,732 personnel deployed to the 3,933 polling units in the state. While the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) deployed a total of 6225 personnel for the purpose of the governorship election in Ondo state.

 

Objective

The objective of this report is to provide an overview of either compliance/non-compliance and conduct of security personnel to the legal frameworks and ethical principles guiding the process of election in Nigeria.

 

Methodology

CLEEN Foundation deployed trained citizen observers across the 18 Local government Areas with a standard checklist to observe the conduct of security personnel deployed to secure the 2024 Governorship elections in Ondo state.  Consequently, CLEEN Foundation opened her Election Security Support Centre (ESSC) on Saturday morning where data from her citizens’ observers in the state were received and analyzed to develop this report. The ESSC received incident reports and escalated to the appropriate institutions for actions.

 

Findings on Conduct of Security Personnel on Election Duty

As mentioned above, CLEEN’s role in this election is to observe the conduct of security personnel particularly the police during the course of the election. The observation included issues concerning the presence of security personnel, adequacy of security personnel, the feeling of safety and security at the polling stations and its environs, the positioning of armed security personnel and the general conduct of security personnel on election duties across the state.

Presence of Security Personnel

Observers deployed by CLEEN Foundation across the state reported the presence of security personnel at the various polling units observed. CLEEN Foundation observers reported the presence of security personnel in Odigbo LGA, Ward 10, PU 40, security personnel were on the ground. Same was reported at Akure South LGA Ward 5 PU 29. Similar reports across other polling units in the state confirmed the presence of security personnel in the ongoing 2024 Ondo state governorship election.

Early Arrival of Security Personnel

Data received showed that in the majority of the polling units observed, security personnel, especially personnel of the Nigeria Police Force got to their duty stations between 07:00 am and 07:59 am. Meanwhile in about 29.6% of the polling stations visited, security personnel were seen as early as before 07:00 am. Overall, CLEEN’s observation can conclude that security personnel deployed for the election were early to their duty post.

Adequacy of Security Personnel at the polling unit

CLEEN Foundation observers reported that there were at least 2 security personnel present in each polling station visited. CLEEN Foundation can report that in most of the polling stations visited, there were 3 or more security personnel on duty. The data also showed that in about 70% of the polling stations, there were at least 2 security personnel present. However, there was a particular report of the absence of security personnel at one of the polling units.

Identification of Personnel

The data received at the CLEEN Foundation Election Security Support Centre from field observers showed that all security personnel in all the polling stations wore an easily identifiable name tag which is in compliance with the code of conduct for security personnel on election duty.

Conduct of Security Personnel

The data across the Local Government Areas in Ondo state as received by the CLEEN Foundation Election Security Support Centre indicate that the majority of the security personnel are of good conduct. Almost all the observers deployed in the 18 LGAs reported good conduct of the security personnel. 96% of observers reported that the security personnel were approachable.

 

 

Other Observations

BVAS Functionality

Generally, the BVAS functioned very well however, CLEEN Foundation received a report of BVAS malfunction at Akure North Ward 4 Polling Unit One. The BVAS delayed in capturing the voters using facial ID.

Voters Inducement

CLEEN Foundation received reports of vote trading ranging from 5000 to 10,000 naira per vote. The report came from observers at Okitipupa Ward 2 PU 16 and in other areas.

Conclusion

CLEEN Foundation wishes to commend the conduct of security personnel deployed for the election with Civil Society and the Police Service Commission team monitoring the conduct of Police Officers on election duty. CLEEN Foundation will continue to observe the election closely as it goes into the most critical part of the close of polls and results collation. Security personnel are enjoined to remain professional and committed to the entire election process.

 

Thank you for listening.

Signed

Peter Maduoma
Acting Executive Director
CLEEN Foundation

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

*