By Monsurudeen Olowoopejo
The appeals of Afrobeat singer, David Adeleke, and millions of Osun State residents for a free, fair and credible governorship election scheduled for Saturday, August 15, may have been granted after the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tunji Disu, has restructured the security architecture for the poll, deploying the Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG in charge of Training and Development, Ishaku Muhammed, to ensure law and order during the exercise in the state.
Muhammed, as gathered, has left the Force Headquarters in Abuja for Osun to manage security before, during and after the electoral exercise following tensions that had enveloped the state as the date for the governorship exercise draws near.
Meanwhile, the DIG for Southwest, Adegoke Fayoade, who according to the Osun Police spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, had relocated to Osun for the exercise, has been ordered by the IGP on Wednesday to stand down and concentrate on the five other states under his command.
The Guild learnt that after the exercise, Osun security control will return to Fayoade, who had earlier promised the electorate better security before, during and after the exercise, although the assurance has been described by residents as a pledge for the optics.
Despite the assurance from the senior police officer, cases of electoral violence within the state have continued to increase, forcing Davido and millions of residents, as well as election observers, to seek United States President Donald Trump and other foreign leaders’ intervention after expressing concerns over the possibility of recording a crime-free voting exercise on Saturday.
The Guild got a wind of the IGP’s directive from the Force Headquarters while probing the readiness of the law enforcement agency for the exercise, considering the claims by the Incumbent Governor, Ademola Adeleke, and counter-allegations from the opposition parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC), on the rising political violence that had beclouded the poll.
Disu’s decision on Fayoade came barely two weeks after deploying Commissioner for Police, CP Samuel Erale, head of communication operations at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, to take over from CP Ibrahim Gotan, who was alleged to have become partisan.
Like Gotan, the Force Headquarters was said to have been inundated with complaints from political parties alleging that the DIG, who was less than a year in office, had taken sides and that his presence would not guarantee a credible gubernatorial poll in the state.
A senior police officer, who did not want his name in print considering that he was not authorised to address the press, told our correspondent on Wednesday that the decision by the IGP to restructure the security architecture was to ensure that the law enforcement agency remains apolitical on the poll.
According to him, Fayoade, who after assuming office embarked on a tour of the Southwest states, has been accused of being biased and was allegedly taking sides with the opposition parties in the discharge of his duties, particularly in Osun.
To avoid undue favouritism after investigations by the Force Headquarters further affirmed the residents’ allegations, he disclosed that the IGP adjusted the security architecture for the governorship exercise to set a standard for upcoming polls across the country.
A female senior police officer in the Southwest told The Guild that all steps taken by the IGP were necessary considering that this is a major election that precedes the 2027 general election.
She stressed that no one had expected that the IGP would remove Gotan and replace him with Erale for the governorship election, but Disu, considering his antecedent, does not want any act that could affect his records in the Nigerian Police Force.
“I believe this is why he has been taking decisions that will ensure the police is not only seen to be apolitical, but acts neutral and continuously promotes free, fair and credible electoral process going forward”.
Another senior police officer explained that the role of Muhammed, as directed by the IGP, would be to oversee and coordinate security with other agencies and ensure the policemen maintain professionalism.
He added that the DIG, who would ensure that the officers maintain neutrality, will coordinate the entire police personnel during the exercise.
This came after Disu approved that four officers be deployed to each of the 3,673 polling units in Osun State for the governorship election.
Aside from that, the IGP has directed Abayomi Shogunle, a commissioner of police, to coordinate operations from the central monitoring centre in Abuja and show of force to discourage violence as well as other disruptive activities.
Also, roadblocks and other movement-control measures have been concluded by the IGP to restrict unauthorised movement during the election.
This, according to sources, would prevent political actors from moving with security aides or armed escorts on August 15, which have been discovered as the strategy aiding electoral offences including vote buying, voter intimidation, ballot-box snatching, and thuggery.