>
The police on Friday said governors and politicians from other states found at polling areas during the Osun state governorship election on Saturday, will not be spared.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Josak Habila and the coordinator of the joint security Taskforce for the election stated this during separate meetings with observers from National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Repubilcan Institute (IRI) as well as the United States Mission at the state command headquarters in Osogbo.
Following reports that some state governors were in the state to give support to some candidates, leader of the observers’ delegation, John Tomaszweski, asked how the police would do handle those governors.
In his response, Habila said: “I do not know if there are governors in the state. Maybe, they came to give support to their members and friends but they must know that they are not to be found anywhere elections are going on.
“They should also respect the restriction of movement because anyone caught breaking the rules will be dealt with no matter how highly placed.”
On the fears about vote buying, Habila said the ban on the use of mobile phones as well as the deployment of six uniformed security agents per polling unit were meant to address that situation, adding that intelligence squad have also been deployed to various parts of the state.