Elections: IGP, parties bicker over ‘vote and leave’ order

He said this during the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) national stakeholders’ summit on the general elections in Abuja, attended by registered political parties.“I know it will become a matter of discussion during the interactive session, but I repeat. I advise electorate when you cast your vote, I advise you to go home. And what […]

He said this during the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) national stakeholders’ summit on the general elections in Abuja, attended by registered political parties.
“I know it will become a matter of discussion during the interactive session, but I repeat. I advise electorate when you cast your vote, I advise you to go home. And what I say to you or what I say to the stakeholder, to the politicians is I advise against instructions and directives that would incite violence,” he said.
But leaders and representatives of the parties quickly opposed the IGP’s call, saying there was no provision in the law that bar electorate from staying back at the polling units.
The parties disagreed with him on the grounds that the electorate are the owners of democracy, and that it happened in 2011 election without any breach of the law and order.
Political parties present at the event are the Alliance for Democracy (AD), African Democratic Congress (ADC), All Progressives Congress (APC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Independent Democrats (ID), National Conscience Party (NCP), Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Action Alliance (AA), and United Democratic Party (UDP) among others.
APGA national secretary, Sani Shinkafi said it was erroneous for the IGP to think that voters stay would cause any violence at the polls, recalling that “in 2011 voters voted and stayed why should it be different this time?”
Deputy campaign director, All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, senator Olurunmbe Mamora asked the IGP to clarify whether attempt to protect votes by the electorate also amount to an unlawful act or not.
National secretary of AD, who is also its presidential candidate, Rafi’u Salau said the IGP got it wrong to order voters out of the polling units.
Presidential candidate of the NCP, Martin Onovo told the IGP that “it is lawful excuse to wait to know the result of the election I participated; you cannot say that is an unlawful excuse, to me that is part of the lawful excuse I have to stay.”
However, national vice chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus turned his questions to INEC chairman, asking him to explain the outcome of the Ebonyi State mock exercise of the card reader and to clarify whether the indigenous contractors who printed PVCs do not have any affiliation with any political party.
The Inspector General of Police later reiterated the vote and leave order while fielding questions from journalists after addressing Commanders of the Special Patrol Units (SPU), Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) and Commanders  of Police Mobil Force (PMF) Squadrons from the across the country.
He also announced the restriction of movement on elections days except those on essential duty assuring that adequate personnel had been deployed to provide the needed security at the 150,000 polling units of the country.
Also, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Mike Okiro said voters staying behind to observe the electoral process might be an invitation chaos.
Okiro spoke yesterday in Abuja while fielding questions from journalists at a press conference on the monitoring of police conduct by the commission during the 2015 elections.