The Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Ibrahim Bello on Thursday called for effective security measures during the upcoming general elections in the state.

Bello made the call while receiving the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Asmau Maikudi, who paid him a courtesy visit at his palace.

The emir noted that there was need for INEC and security agencies to provide adequate security measures for the exercise to allow every citizen to vote according to their choice.

"We all know the security situation of this state, especially in the rural communities, therefore adequate security measures must be provided, before, during and after the election."

"If there is adequate security measures, even if some criminals want to distract the elections, they will not succeed," he said.

The emir who thanked the INEC commissioner for the visit, lauded the commissions commitment to ensure free, fair and credible elections in the country.

He assured the emirates support to INEC and others stakeholders for a successful elections in the state.

He said that the emirate council would support INEC activities in enlightening the public to ensure the distribution of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards.

In his remarks, the Chairman of Gusau Local Government, Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko urged INEC to make arrangements to avoid late arrival of election materials to polling units, saying it was a major problem during elections in the past.

"If we consider security challenges in this state, there is need to make adequate arrangement to start the election early to finish on time," he said.

Earlier, Mrs Asmau Maikudi said she was in the palace to appreciate the emir over his support and cooperation to activities of the commission in the state.

"We are here to solicit more support from you, as traditional ruler and father in the society.

"We believe you have a great role to play in ensuring free, fair and credible elections especially in the areas of enlightenment and awareness creation.

"We know the kind support you have been giving us particularly in reaching the people. One purpose of this visit, is the issue of PVCs distribution in the state.

"Gusau Local Government has the highest number of uncollected PVCS in the state, we have a total of 24,430 unclaimed PVCS belonging to people of Gusau LGA.

"We need support of all stakeholders to ensure that all the unclaimed PVCS are distributed to their owners.

We are therefore appealing for all stakeholders support to ensure the successful conduct of the election in this state," she added.