Baring any last minute change of plans, the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, will announce the postponement of the 2015 General
elections.
Sources told Pointblanknews.com that the postponement is partly as a
result of security concerns and the inability of the electoral body to
issue Personal Voters Card, PVC, to eligible voters.
INEC had said recently that it was ready for the election. The Commission
also said while over 70, 383, 427 people were registered as eligible
voters, only 45, 098, 876 had collected their PVCs. 25, 284, 551 others or
34 percent were yet to collect the PVCs for the exercise.
On security concerns, sources told Pointblanknews.com that while Security
chiefs at the Council of States meeting had assured INEC of adequate
protection, current events seems to have quashed that assurance.
A source within the Army told Pointblanknews.com that tension being
generated by the elections has heightened fears and insecurity within the
North.
The source said the unity of Nigeria is currently being threatened and
going ahead with the elections not minding the palpable fears and security
concern would spell doom.
“Much as we all desire that the elections should come and go, it is the
duty of the Army and other security agencies to ensure the unity of this
country. Security reports is not in favor of the elections at this time
and it will do us all good for us to douse the tensions first and then go
into the elections,” the Army source said.
The Army source who would not want to be named said the Military cannot
guarantee safety of INEC officials and voters especially in the North East
and North West zone of the country.
Another source told Pointblanknews.com that virtually all Igbos with PVCs
living in the North have left with their families for the South for fear
of being attacked during the elections.
“Majority of the Igbos who had registered in the North to vote have all
left, they have shut down their businesses and gone back to the South.
This is a very unhealthy situation,” a source who would not want his name
mentioned told Pointblanknews.com
National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, had called for the February
2015 election to be postponed to allow more time for the distribution of
voter cards.
Mr. Dasuki made the call in London, UK. He said the Independent National
Electoral Commission, INEC, needs more time to ensure all qualified
Nigerians receive cards for the vote.
The NSA said he told the chairman of INEC, Attahiru Jega, that a
postponement within the three months allowed by the Electoral Act would be
a good idea, Reuters news agency reported.
Mr. Dasuki, who was speaking at London think-tank Chatham House, said INEC
had distributed 30 million cards in 2014, with another 30 million left.
He said while INEC had assured him the distribution would be completed for
the February polls, he believed it would be more meaningful to allow more
time for a successful election.
“It costs you nothing, it’s still within the law,” Mr. Dasuki said he had
told the INEC chairman, Reuters reported.
The opposition All Progressive Congress, APC, had vehemently rejected any
call for the postponement of the 2015 general elections. But a coalition
of 16 registered political parties had threatened a boycott of the
elections if it is not postponed to allow for adequate distribution of the
PVCs.
Below Is What Jega Said At Council of State Meeting
* There are PVCs, which have been stolen before they were collected by
their owners, or which were damaged, or which were for people who have
done transfers, and which the Commission has decided to reproduce.
In any case the commission will appreciate advice on this matter.
Card Readers
The commission ordered for the production and delivery of 182,000
customized CRs, sufficient for 150, 829 voting points (VPs), plus
redundancies. Out of this number, 154,500 have since been delivered and
distributed to the states and FCT. The remaining balance of 27,500 has
been produced and shipped and is expected on Wednesday February 4th (* The
Whistle notes that Jega briefed Council on the 5th and the materials were
yet to arrive).
In the highly unlikely event that a CR fails, we have enough spares to
deploy before the end of accreditation at 1PM and adjust the time to gain
lost time. (* The Whistle notes this is an Entirely Questionable
Statement)
Non-Sensitive Materials
There were delays in respect of sending the materials to Borno and Yobe
states, because we have to keep them longer in the Zonal store until
adequate security arrangements have been made to transport them to the
states. A couple of months ago, INEC’s State office in Yobe was damaged by
insurgents and 11 Hilux vehicles carted away.
Although timelines have been missed in respect of the supply/delivery of
some of the non sensitive materials to the states, in general.
Recruitment and Training of Ad hoc (Temporary) election Personnel
Given that larger number of Ad hoc Staff will be used in 2015 compared
with 2011, the training his slightly more challenging.
With the benefit of hindsight, and given the new technology of PVC and CR,
we could do with more days of especially hands-on training for POs and
APOs. Regrettably we can’t do that due to funding constraints. Also a more
decentralized, LGA level training with smaller numbers on classroom would
have been ideal.
Public Enlightenment, Sensitization and Voter Education
In a country the size and complexity of Nigeria, public enlightenment,
sensitization and voter education are circumscribed by enormous
challenges.
However, a lot more still needs to be done by all stakeholders to
intensify voter education as we get close to the dates of the elections.
For things under the commissions control, our accomplishments are to such
degree that we can conduct the election, in spite of the identifiable
challenges.
Consequently, although our state of preparedness may not be 100% or
perfect, and although a bit more time of additional preparation would
enable us improve and perfect the current level of preparedness, we
believed that we’re ready for the elections as planned.
No matter the extent of our readiness if there are serious security
concerns the successful conduct of free, fair, credible and peaceful
elections would be greatly jeopardized.
This is a new development that INEC cannot certainly ignore or take lightly.