[FILE] Ekiti state.
The Ekiti State Police Command has increased security personnel at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Ado-Ekiti where election materials retrieved following the postponement of elections on Saturday were kept.
Commissioner of Police (CP), Asuquo Amba, who said there was no room for security lapses in the forthcoming elections, noted that the deployment of more security men would ensure safety of sensitive materials kept with the bank.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on Saturday retrieved electoral materials deployed for the Presidential and National Assembly elections earlier scheduled for February 16 across 16 local government areas of the state.
INEC took the decision following postponement of the elections to Saturday, February 23, citing logistics challenges.
Speaking with journalists in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, Amba assured all political parties that the materials were under safe custody and watertight security protection.
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Amba, who spoke through the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, said: “If you visit the CBN Office in Ekiti now, you will see more security men around the place.
“We recognise the fact that security lapses could jeopardize the upcoming polls and we are guiding against that.”
However, INEC in Oyo State yesterday confirmed receipt of sensitive and non-sensitive electoral materials for the rescheduled February 23 polls.
Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mutiu Agboke, monitored arrival of the electoral materials in the presence of party agents and journalists at CBN’s Office in Ibadan.
But the sensitive materials were said to have arrived late at Oyo Central Senatorial district.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State government has declared Monday, February 25 and Monday, March 11, 2019 as public holiday for public and private schools in the state as a result of the postponement of the general elections to February 23 and March 9.
A statement by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mrs. Ibironke Fatoki, noted that all schools would proceed on break on February 22, and resume on February 26, while the second break will be on March 8. Schools resume on March 12.
