The Inspector General of Police (IG), Alkali Usman, on Wednesday constituted an Election Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Team to ensure the effective deployment of operatives before, during and after the polls.
The team, according to the police spokesman, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, would be headed by the Vice President, INTERPOL and Head of National Crime Bureau (NCB), AIG Garba Baba Umar. Adejobi added that it would comprise seasoned officers across the country with vast knowledge of election security management.
He said they would identify, analyze and mitigate threats, as well as carry out on-the-spot assessment and appraisal of the security emplacements ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The police spokesman said the constitution was in furtherance of the IG’s drive for safe, secured, and credible general elections.
Adejobi said: “The IGP has similarly appointed the Vice President (INTERPOL) and Head of National Crime Bureau (NCB), AIG Garba Baba Umar, as the National Coordinator of the team of experienced and seasoned Police Officers with vast knowledge in election security management, to be assisted by other team members including the Force Secretary, AIG Habu Sani, CP Election Monitoring, CP Basil Idegwu, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi.
“The team also comprises seven other Commissioners of Police, 15 Deputy Commissioners of Police, 30 Assistant Commissioners of Police, 30 Chief Superintendents of Police, and 16 Strategic Officers of other ranks.
“The IGP, while reiterating the commitment of the police to ensuring that the elections are safe, secure, credible, and in line with global best practices, tasked the team to, amongst other things, ensure the propriety of deployments, give real-time coverage of the electoral process and safeguard against hostile external and internal influence using INTERPOL, anti-cybercrime and intelligence tools and assets of the Nigeria Police Force.”
Continuing, Adejobi said the IG reaffirmed the establishment and viability of the Electoral Offences Desks domiciled at the State Criminal Investigation Departments (SCID) of all commands across the nation headed by the Assistant Commissioners of Police in charge of the SCID.
