The Rivers police command, has deployed 20,000 policemen for the local government elections in the state scheduled for tomorrow.

Mr Suleiman Abba, the Commissioner of Police in the state, told a newsmen in Port Harcourt yesterday that other law enforcement officers would also be required.

Abba warned politicians and their supporters against unlawful brandishing of weapons during and after the polls or snatching election materials.

The commissioner explained that the police would deal decisively with culprits.

Abba further warned against violence at the polling units and collation centres, just as he insisted that malpractices would not be tolerated.

He said that bribery, corruption, impersonation, underage voting and disorderly conduct at the polling units, among others, would not be tolerated during the election.

The police chief advised politicians, their supporters and voters to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner, assuring that the police would diligently enforce the law.

The commissioner urged the police and other security personnel to make themselves accessible and approachable to all, warning politicians against moving from one polling unit to the other.

According to him, security operatives will arrest and prosecute politicians who contravene the law because politicians are not expected to monitor the election.

He added that there would be no movements as from 10 p.m. on Friday to 6 a.m. on Saturday, saying that the curfew would be strictly enforced by security operatives.

Abba said that all the flash points in the state would be adequately patrolled to avoid break down of law and order.

He commended the Rivers government for installing CCTV cameras at strategic locations in Port Harcourt, saying it had helped the police in crime detection and prevention.

Meanwhile, Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission says it has recruited 16,000 ad-hoc staff in readiness to ensure the conduct of free and fair local government elections in the 21 out of the 23 local government areas in Rivers State.

Commissioner for Communication and Civil Education, Hon Nimi Walson-Jack who stated this while briefing journalists said this yesterday Saturday’s elections was significant because it would be the  second election in the present commission would conduct, adding that the election would not hold in two local government areas, Degema and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas.

He explained that elections would not hold in Degema because the last election was held in November 2010 while the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni  election outcome was still in court.

The commissioner noted that 60 political parties had indicated interest to contest the chairmanship and councillorship seats in the 21 local government councils in the state.

Walson-Jack explained that the 60 political parties were not fielding candidates for all the seats in the councillors and chairmen.

According to him, in order to avoid litigations for exclusion, the commission designed ballot papers to accommodate the 60 political parties, but voters would only vote within the jurisdictions of their local governments and wards.

In collation of results, the commissioner said presiding officers would take into consideration only the votes cast for the contesting parties in that particular wards or local governments.

He said RSIEC will only supervise the elections and that the commission would not be at the polling centres, adding that the polling centres would be manned by 16,000 ad-hoc staff of the commission

“The ad-hoc staff have been recruited through open process, shortlisted and trained in order to update their knowledge of  the modified voting process”.

He, however, said they were counting on the dedication and commitment of these ad-hoc staff that would guarantee free and fair elections.

He warned that ballot boxes with ballot papers should not be taken away from the units without votes being counted, stating that after the elections, the votes would be counted at the units before they area taken to the collation centres.

He further warned that collation centres are for the addition of figures not for counting of votes.

According to him, it was the responsibility of voters to ensure that their votes are counted, recorded and announced to them. Walson-Jackson said the 9.am time was to allow all materials to get to the polling units in all the local government areas, assuring that personnel and materials would arrive on eve of the elections.

He said the security of voters, ad-hoc staff had been guaranteed by security agencies, stating that restriction of movement had been ordered from Friday night to Saturday morning.

The commissioner said by the Rivers State Electoral Law as amended, it is an electoral offence to gather not for the purpose of the election and enjoined residents to cancel all social programmes.