Abia North re-run: NGOs begin deployment of ICT devices

Ahead of the re-run election for Abia North Senatorial District, a non-profit organisation, Peace Initiative Group (API), has called on the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, to caution his men against conniving with perpetrators of electoral fraud.
According to the NGO’s coordinator in Abia State, Comrade Ekeson Uche, who spoke to a cross-section of journalists after a parley with representatives of civil societies and other NGOs in Umuahia, any illegal behaviour by the police and other security agencies will be aggressively resisted, noting that the manipulation of results that marred the last senate poll in Abia North will not be tolerated as the people are ready to apprehend election riggers in the forthcoming re-run election.
He said: “We are using this medium to encourage legitimate voters to come out en masse to cast their votes in favour of their preferred candidates on election day.
“The era of political humiliation and harassment is over, especially as witnessed during the last administration at the federal and state levels. ‎This is a new era in the history of Nigeria.
“We would not condone any breakdown of law and order including ballot box snatching and falsification of results as experienced during the last senate poll in Abia North.
“Politicians must adhere to the electoral act in all their activities before, during and after the poll”.
Uche, who condemned in strong terms the use of state machinery in Abia State to humiliate the opposition, called on the people to be bold and courageous as international and local non- profit organizations have procured and commenced the deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices and gadgets for election coverage and monitoring towards promoting a transparent electoral process.
While commending civil societies for sensitising the ‎public on the benefits of a violence-free election, he called on the federal government to mobilize security personnel to Abia in order to forestall any breakdown of law and order before, during and after the re-run election in Abia North, adding that electoral offenders should not go unpunished.