With only 48 hours until Plateau State’s local government elections, Governor Simon Lalong has urged anybody planning to disrupt the process to shelve their plans.
Lalong said security agents have been directed to “deal decisively with anyone who threatens the lives and properties of law abiding citizens using this election as a cover”.
The governor disclosed this during a statewide broadcast on Thursday ahead of the Local Government polls bill for Saturday, October 9, 2021.
He said, “Those who are bent on causing trouble with a view to disrupting the process or causing pain on the people should be warned to shelve the idea because they will not be allowed to succeed.
“Government has directed security agencies to deal decisively with anyone who threatens the lives and properties of law-abiding citizens using this election as a cover”, he warned.
“I wish to advise all citizens to come out and vote their candidates and parties of choice without any molestation, harassment or intimidation.
“Security agencies have been directed to provide a safe environment for people to exercise their franchise and determine who represents them at the grassroots level”, he maintained.
According to him, “PLASIEC has assured all citizens, candidates and political parties of its preparedness to conduct free, fair and transparent elections in line with the constitution and other relevant guidelines.
“They have also reaffirmed their readiness to deploy its trained personnel and ad-hoc staff to all the polling units to conduct the exercise”, he explained.
“Government welcomes this assurance by PLASIEC and hopes that all citizens, political parties and their candidates will cooperate with the electoral umpire to carry out this task in a peaceful, safe and unbiased manner.
“The PLASIEC has also disclosed that they engaged security agencies at several levels and obtained assurances of adequate deployment of personnel throughout the 325 Wards and 17 LGAs for a hitch-free exercise.
“This is a welcome development which the Government will complement by ensuring that there is peace before, during and after the elections,” he assured.