The Police Service Commission (PSC) has ranked the conducts of policemen on electoral duties at the governorship election in Ondo as above average.
In a statement by Ikechukwu Ani, head, press and public relations, the Commission’s team visited 12 local government areas in the three Senatorial districts of the state, covering 77 polling units.
Ani said the team received a total of 51 telephone calls from its advertised dedicated lines with complaints basically on attempts to induce voters.
“There was reasonable distribution of police men at the various polling units ranging from three to about 12 depending on the size of the unit.
“The Police men were complemented in virtually all the polling units by men of the Department of State Security, (DSS,) Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC) Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC)and the joint task force of mobile policemen and the military that manned major highways and junctions in the state.
“The Commission’s team noticed a high population of police officers of Inspector rank in most of the polling units but could not immediately ascertain the reason for using such high calibre of officers to man the polling units.
“The Police were civil, polite and respectful and arrived early at the place of assignments.
“The Commission’s team ran into an officer with f/no 454246 at one of the polling units in Okitipupa who politely rejected monetary inducement to the tune of N50,000 to allow thumb printing for voters who failed to turn up for voting.
“The Commission will investigate further this commendable conduct of the officer and if confirmed to be true, will consider rewarding him as it will equally visit disciplinary measure on those found wanting.
“The Commission commends the leadership of the police who managed the security architecture in Ondo State led by DIG Leye Oyebade and supported by AIG Hosea Karma and Command CP Bolaji Salami.
“The Commission will continue to monitor the conduct of police officers on election duties as its contribution to sustaining the nation’s evolving democracy.”
