Full Jega's Speech On Poll Timetable (Read)
STATEMENT ON THE TIMETABLE FOR 2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS BY THE
CHAIRMAN, INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC), PROFESSOR ATTAHIRU
M. JEGA, AT A PRESS CONFERENCE ON FEBRUARY 07th, 2015
Introduction
We invited you here today to make known the position of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the timetable for the 2015
general elections.
Let me state from the outset that the Commission’s position
was reached after carefully weighing the suggestions from briefings held with
different stakeholders in the electoral process.
The conduct of elections in a country like Nigeria is
invariably a collective venture that involves not just the Election Management
Body (EMB), but also a diverse range of stakeholders, notably security
agencies, political parties and their candidates, voters, as well as interest
groups, such as the civil society organizations and the media. To guarantee
successful conduct of elections, there are things that are wholly the
responsibility of the EMB. But there are other things critical for the success
of elections, which fall outside the control of the EMB.
In other words, while INEC must work hard to perfect its
systems and processes for conducting elections, and take responsibility for any
imperfections thereof, whatever the Commission does may not by itself be
sufficient to guarantee the success of elections. There are a number of issues
in the preparation and conduct of an election, the most critical of which is
security, which is not under the control of INEC.
Current
State of INEC’s Preparedness
On Thursday, February 5, 2015, I was invited to brief the
National Council of State, which is the highest advisory to the President
comprising past and present leaders in Nigeria, on the level of preparedness of
INEC to conduct the 2015 general elections. I made a presentation to the
Council titled ‘Preparations for the 2015 General Elections: Progress Report,’
in which I gave a detailed account of what the Commission has been doing in
readiness for the national elections (National Assembly and Presidential)
scheduled for February 14th, and the state elections (Governorship and State
Assembly) scheduled forFebruary 28th, 2015.
The summary of my presentation to the National Council of
State meeting is that, for matters under its control, INEC is
substantially ready for the general elections as scheduled, despite discernible
challenges being encountered with some of its processes like the collection of
Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) by registered members of the public.
In addition, INEC has been doing everything it can to
facilitate the collection of the PVCs by registered members of the public. As
at 5th February 2015, the total number of PVCs collected was 45, 829, 808,
representing 66.58% of the total number of registered voters.
In the delivery and deployment of electoral materials, INEC
is also at a comfort level in its readiness for the general elections as
scheduled (see the presentation to the Council of State). The Commission’s
preparations are not yet perfect or fully accomplished. But our level of
preparedness, despite a few challenges, is sufficient to conduct free, fair and
credible elections as scheduled on February 14th and February 28th. Compared
with 2011 when, within a short time, we conducted general elections that were
universally adjudged free, fair and credible and the best in Nigeria’s recent
electoral history, our processes aretoday better refined, more robust and
therefore capable of delivering even better elections.
Other
Variables
But as I mentioned earlier, there are some other variables
equally crucial for successful conduct of the 2015 general elections that are
outside the control of INEC. One important variable is security for the
elections.
While the Commission has a very good working relationship
with all security agencies, especially on the platform of the Inter-agency Consultative
Committee on Election Security (ICCES) since its inception in 2010, it has
become pertinent for it to seriously consider the security advisory presented
to it by the Security and Intelligence Services. I would like to reiterate here
that INEC is an EMB and not a security agency. It relies on the security
services to provide a safe environment for personnel, voters, election
observers and election materials to conduct elections wherever it deploys.
Where the security services strongly advise otherwise, it would be
unconscionable of the Commission to deploy personnel and call voters out in
such a situation.
Last Wednesday, which was a day before the Council of State
meeting, the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) wrote a letter to
the Commission, drawing attention to recent developments in four Northeast
states of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Gombe currently experiencing the challenge
of insurgency. The letter stated that security could not be guaranteed during
the proposed period in February for the general elections.
This advisory was reinforced at the Council of State meeting
on Thursday where the NSA and all the Armed Services and Intelligence Chiefs
unanimously reiterated that the safety and security of our operations cannot be
guaranteed, and that the Security Services needed at least six weeks within
which to conclude a major military operation against the insurgency in the
Northeast; and that during this operation, the military will be concentrating
its attention in the theatre of operations such that they may not be able to
provide the traditional support they render to the Police and other agencies
during elections.
INEC’s
Decision
We have done wide ranging consultation to enable us have as
much input as is necessary before taking an informed decision. In the series of
consultations that we held with stakeholders, the questions consistently posed
to them for consideration are:
In view of the latest development, should INEC proceed with
the conduct of the general elections as scheduled in spite of this strong
advice; and if so, what alternative security arrangements are available to be
put in place?
Or, should INEC take the advice and adjust the schedules of
the general elections within the framework of Constitutional provisions?
The Commission held a meeting after the consultations, and
decided to take the advice of the Security Chiefs and adjust the dates of the
elections. We have done this relying on Section 26(1) of the Electoral 2010 (As
Amended), which states thus: “Where a date has been appointed for the holding
of an election, and there is reason to believe that a serious breach of the
peace is likely to occur if the election is proceeded with on that date or it
is impossible to conduct the elections as a result of natural disasters or
other emergencies, the Commission may postpone the election and shall in
respect of the area, or areas concerned, appoint another date for the holding
of the postponed election, provided that such reason for the postponement is
cogent and verifiable”.
INEC not being a security agency that could by itself
guarantee protection for personnel and materials, as well as voters during
elections, the Commission cannot lightly wave off the advice by the nation’s
Security Chiefs. The Commission is specifically concerned about the security of
our ad hoc staff who constitute at least 600,000 young men and women, together
with our regular staff, voters, election observers as well as election
materials painstakingly acquired over the last one and half years. This concern
is limited not just to the areas in the North-eastern part of Nigeria
experiencing insurgency; the risk of deploying young men and women and calling
people to exercise their democratic rights in a situation where their security
cannot be guaranteed is a most onerous responsibility. Under such
circumstances, few EMBs across the world, if any, would contemplate proceeding
with the elections as scheduled. No matter the extent of INEC’s preparedness,
therefore, if the security of personnel, voters, election observers and
election materials cannot be guaranteed, the life of innocent young men and
women as well the prospects of free, fair, credible and peaceful elections
would be greatly jeopardised.
Consequently, the Commission has decided to reschedule the
2015 general elections thus: the national elections (i.e. Presidential and
National Assembly) are now to hold on March 28th, 2015; while the state
elections (Governorship and State Assembly) are to hold onApril 11th, 2015. It
should be noted that this rescheduling falls within the constitutional
framework for the conduct of the elections, notably, Sections 76(2), 116(2),
132(2) and 178(2). See also Section 25 of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended).
For the avoidance of doubt, we will under no circumstances
approve an arrangement that is not in line with the provisions of our laws. Our
hope is that with this rescheduling, the security services will do their best
to ensure that the security environment needed for safe and peaceful conduct of
the 2015 elections is rapidly put in place.
We in INEC reassure all Nigerians and indeed the
international community of our commitment to do everything within the law and
to conduct free, fair, credible and peaceful elections. We call on the security
agencies to honour their commitment to restore sufficient normalcy for
elections to take place within the period of extension. We also call on
Nigerians, political parties, candidates and all other stakeholders to accept
this decision in good faith and ensure the maintenance of peace.
As for us in INEC we’ll endeavour to use the period of the
extension to keep on perfecting our systems and processes for conducting the
best elections in Nigeria’s history. In particular, we believe that we would
resolve all outstanding issues related to non-collection of PVCs, which agitate
the minds of many Nigerians.
Finally, we wish to call on all Nigerians to accept our
decision, which is taken in good faith and the best interest of deepening
democracy ion our country.
Thank you.
Professor Attahiru M. Jega, OFR
Chairman
No comments:
Disclaimer:
*Don't Forget To Drop Your Comments After Reading
*Comments on this blog are NOT posted by Agbo.
*Agbosblog Readers are SOLELY responsible for the comments they post on Agbosblog.com
*Follow On Instagram @agbosblog
*Follow On Twitter @agbosblog
Thank You