By Gabriel Olawale

The Inspector General of the Police, Usman Baba, has expressed the resolve of the Nigeria Police Force to handle all security challenges and effectively play its part in providing adequate protection for the conduct of a peaceful, free and fair elections in 2023, before, during, and after the exercise.

He said this at the opening of the NPF’s workshop of ‘Election Security Management for Police Officers in the North-West zone’, Kano training Centre on Wednesday.

The workshop, staged in collaboration with Solar Security and Consult Limited, was flagged off last week and forms part of the NPF’s efforts to enhance the capacity of its officers and facilitate inter-agency collaboration ahead of the 2023 elections.

The IGP was represented at the event by the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 1, Mr. Sadiq Bello. Commenting on the theme of the workshop titled ‘The 2023 General Elections: Enhancing National Security Capacity for a Secure and Credible Electoral Process in Nigeria’, he explained that the training exercise would span various techniques of managing security issues necessary for the conduct of credible elections.

He said: “We are preparing the minds of the police officers to be ready in confronting security challenges that might come up, so as to ensure a successful election.’

“There are a lot of expectations on the police and other security agencies as the election is by the corner’.

“Performance of the police has improved, you will believe me that, based on the recent election conducted in Ekiti state, there is hope for the country,” he said.

Former IGP, Mr. Solomon Arase, who also spoke at the event expressed confidence that the election would hold next year, in spite of the security challenges witnessed in some parts of the country. He also commended the initiative’s focus on offering clarity on relevant laws, particularly as it relates to the role of the Police and its obligations to all stakeholders involved in the process.

He said: “That is why the IGP initiatives should be commended, one aspect we are very concern about is the new electoral law, 2022.

“We believed that our officers should be conversant with the provisions of these laws.

“And most importantly, on the issue of inter-agency collaboration, it is true that the police is the lead agency, but we work in cooperation with other security agencies.

“We want to develop a template where our working arrangement will be seamless,” he said.

Arase disclosed plans of the NPF to institutionalize the lessons by incorporating them into the training curriculum of the various training schools, while also explaining that the selected participants at the workshop were expected to cascade the training and competence in their respective commands by offering same to their colleagues and juniors.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kano State Council, Mr Abbas Ibrahim, who was also present at the event pledged the support of the media in ensuring a hitch free election.

Alhaji Habibu Abdullahi, who represented the Kano state government, assured the government’s continuing support to the police and other security agencies.