President Muhammadu Buhari has received praise from the Nigerian Police for his unwavering dedication to the Nigeria Police Force’s reform initiative and his unwavering support of the Nigeria Police Force’s efforts to fulfill their mandate in the upcoming elections.
The praises were part of the communiqué presented at the 3rd NPF conference and retreat for Senior Police Officers from 30th October – 3rd November 2022 at Landmark Event Centre, Owerri, Imo State.
The communiqué also encourages the leadership of the Force to sustain the application of the Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers as a noble platform for brainstorming on policing and internal security issues, while re-evaluating strategies towards advancing the core mandates of the Nigeria Police Force.
Some of the resolutions at the end of the conference and retreat are:
- The Conference & Retreat was encouraged by the commitment of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to support security agencies and critical stakeholders to ensure peaceful, free, fair, transparent, and credible elections in 2023.
- The Conference and Retreat, also appreciate the commendation of the President to the Nigeria Police for the satisfactory performance of the security agencies, led by the Nigeria Police Force, in ensuring that the votes of the people were counted in the elections that were conducted in Anambra, Ekiti, and Osun States during the tenure of the present Inspector-General of Police.
- Also noted was the charge of the President to the security agencies to remain neutral in the discharge of their duties during the 2023 general elections. The Conference & Retreat, therefore, assured Mr. President and the country that the Police, alongside the military and other sister security and law enforcement agencies, is committed to carrying out the task assigned to them.
- Acknowledged the importance of collaboration among security agencies in ensuring electoral security and credible elections and appealed for continuous demonstration of professionalism and cooperation to ensure free, fair, transparent, and credible elections in 2023.
- Noted that politicians and political parties have critical roles to play in the institutionalization of democratic culture and governance and appealed to them to reorder their conduct and activities to enhance free, fair, transparent, and credible elections. The Conference & Retreat further stressed that politicians should avoid engaging thugs and non-state actors during elections but concentrate on policing their communities.
- Observed that election operationalizes the constitutional guarantee that sovereignty belongs to the people from whom government derives its power and therefore appealed to the citizens to eschew any behaviour that undermines peaceful, free, fair, and credible elections in the country.
- The primacy of the Nigeria Police Force as the lead Agency in securing the Nation’s Electoral Process and, of course, the entire internal security was recognized and re-affirmed by the Conference & Retreat, without undermining the critical support expected from other security Agencies in Nigeria.
- The Conference & Retreat avowed that the Chairman of INEC needs to work concertedly with the Inspector General of Police in ensuring that democratic governance is maintained and delivered to the Nigerian populace.
- The Federal Government of Nigeria is encouraged to continue to support and equip the Nigeria Police Force towards enhanced operational capability for effective performance.
- The Federal Government and Independent National Electoral Commission should ensure operational logistics are planned and provided concurrently for the Nigeria Police Force, given its critical role in the electioneering process. The timeliness of the disbursement should also be ensured.
- The Force should step up its efforts towards preventing and controlling threats to free, fair, and credible elections using the continuous intelligence products from the Force Intelligence Bureau and other members of the Intelligence Community.
- Police operational units are to ensure the use of early warning indicators as a means of ensuring effective election security management before, during, and after the General Elections.
- The Force should continue to expand its use of enhanced technology tools, some of which are available at the INTERPOL NCB Abuja and other Federal Government databank Institutions, in aid of its operations across the country and cyberspace.
- As the lead election management Security Agency, the Police are to exercise effective partnership and coordination with other security agencies that are deployed to assist the electoral processes.
- Acknowledge the increasing role of the Force in the affairs of INTERPOL and urge that this should be sustained to enable the country to benefit from the global intelligence network and support.
- Urges that Police should ensure that political campaigns by various political parties are streamlined to avoid clashes and likely breakdown of law and order.
- Police strategic managers are to liaise with political parties and candidates towards ensuring that they commit themselves to a peaceful, free, fair, transparent, and credible electioneering process.
- The Conference & Retreat recommended that the Federal Government through the INEC should constitute an effective Electoral Prosecution Unit that will expedite the prosecution of electoral offenders during elections.
