At least 30,000 policemen would be deployed to provide security for the governorship election in Ondo State.
Commissioner of Police in Ondo, Mr Bolaji Salami, said the officers would be drafted to the 18 local government areas of the state to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
He said, “We have already started the preparations for the election and we have trained our men to ensure a violence-free election on October 10.
“We are taking directive from the Force (Police) headquarters and 30,000 policemen would be providing security for the Ondo governorship. They would be deployed to all polling units in all 18 local government areas.”
He also added that the command would soon begin a show of force together with other security agencies in the state to send a signal to anyone planning to cause violence in the election.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission has said it would deploy over 17,000 ad hoc staff for the Ondo governorship election.
The commission also explained that 15,000 members of the National Youth Service Corps would assist as polling officers from that figure.
Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voters Education, made the disclosure during a workshop for journalists in the state ahead of the election.
Okoye said the ad hoc staff would include civil servants and senior lecturers from tertiary institutions, who would serve as collation and presiding officers for the election.
Speaking on the controversial Z-Pad technology, which was recently used during the Nasarawa Central state constituency election, Okoye said the commission had been able to rectify some of the challenges with the innovation.
He said, “In the Nasarawa election, the commission introduced Z-Pad as secondary verification solution to the smart card reader. If the smart card reader is unable to identify your fingerprints, the Z-Pad will identify you and capture your facials and then you can vote.
“Some of these problems we have noticed in the Z-Pad, we need to rectify them before we introduce them in big elections.
“But for the purpose of uploading Form EC8A from the polling units to a dedicated portal, we are going to continue with the Z-Pad.
“I want to assure and reassure you that this commission is committed to the conduct of credible election both in Edo and Ondo states and in all the 14 by-elections we are going to conduct.”
