By Chimezie Godfrey
The CLEEN Foundation has donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and COVID-19 Police Guidelines to Edo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force.
The Executive Director of the Foundation, Dr Benson Olugbuo who disclosed this in a statement made available to Newsdiaryonline on Thursday called for peaceful governorship election in Edo state.
“The CLEEN Foundation and partners are supporting the Edo state police command with 220 quantities of 250ml hand sanitizers, 704 facemasks and 530 copies of COVID-19 guidelines.
“The same quantity will be distributed across all the state police commands in Nigeria.
“This is in recognition of the role of the Nigeria Police Force as the lead security agency in securing lives and properties of citizens in Nigeria as provided by the 1999 Constitution,” he stated.
Olugbuo commended the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force especially the Edo state command in dousing tensions and mitigating electoral violence towards the countdown of the governorship elections in the state.
He urged the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies policing the elections to be non-partisan and professional before, during and after the election.
According to him, this will promote free, fair, and peaceful elections in Edo and other subsequent elections.
He added that they should abide with the code of conduct and rules of engagement for security personnel on electoral duty developed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Olugbuo also called on political actors to embrace peace and eschew all forms violence during and after the elections.
“We urge all political actors in Edo state in the light of the peace accord brokered by the National Peace Committee to eschew all form of political violence and disruptive actions that will affect the integrity of the elections in Edo state.
“We call on the independent National Electoral Commission to ensure strict adherence to its guidelines for the conduct of elections and clearly map out punitive measures for election stakeholders who flout the Commission’s COVID-19 guidelines.
“We request voters to comply with National Center for Disease Control/Presidential Task Force laid down guidelines and INEC policy in conducting elections in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic while coming out to exercise their civic rights come Saturday 19th September 2020.
“We recommend synergy and effective collaboration between security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission towards delivering peaceful and transparent elections in Edo state that will be a model for other elections in Nigeria,” he stated.
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