<\/p>\n
Baring any last minute change of plans, the Independent National Electoral
\nCommission, INEC, will announce the postponement of the 2015 General
\nelections.<\/p>\n
Sources told Pointblanknews.com that the postponement is partly as a
\nresult of security concerns and the inability of the electoral body to
\nissue Personal Voters Card, PVC, to eligible voters.<\/p>\n
INEC had said recently that it was ready for the election. The Commission
\nalso said while over 70, 383, 427 people were registered as eligible
\nvoters, only 45, 098, 876 had collected their PVCs. 25, 284, 551 others or
\n34 percent were yet to collect the PVCs for the exercise.<\/p>\n
On security concerns, sources told Pointblanknews.com that while Security
\nchiefs at the Council of States meeting had assured INEC of adequate
\nprotection, current events seems to have quashed that assurance.<\/p>\n
A source within the Army told Pointblanknews.com that tension being
\ngenerated by the elections has heightened fears and insecurity within the
\nNorth.<\/p>\n
The source said the unity of Nigeria is currently being threatened and
\ngoing ahead with the elections not minding the palpable fears and security
\nconcern would spell doom.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch as we all desire that the elections should come and go, it is the
\nduty of the Army and other security agencies to ensure the unity of this
\ncountry. Security reports is not in favor of the elections at this time
\nand it will do us all good for us to douse the tensions first and then go
\ninto the elections,\u201d the Army source said.<\/p>\n
The Army source who would not want to be named said the Military cannot
\nguarantee safety of INEC officials and voters especially in the North East
\nand North West zone of the country.<\/p>\n
Another source told Pointblanknews.com that virtually all Igbos with PVCs
\nliving in the North have left with their families for the South for fear
\nof being attacked during the elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cMajority of the Igbos who had registered in the North to vote have all
\nleft, they have shut down their businesses and gone back to the South.
\nThis is a very unhealthy situation,\u201d a source who would not want his name
\nmentioned told Pointblanknews.com<\/p>\n
National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, had called for the February
\n2015 election to be postponed to allow more time for the distribution of
\nvoter cards.<\/p>\n
Mr. Dasuki made the call in London, UK. He said the Independent National
\nElectoral Commission, INEC, needs more time to ensure all qualified
\nNigerians receive cards for the vote.<\/p>\n
The NSA said he told the chairman of INEC, Attahiru Jega, that a
\npostponement within the three months allowed by the Electoral Act would be
\na good idea, Reuters news agency reported.<\/p>\n
Mr. Dasuki, who was speaking at London think-tank Chatham House, said INEC
\nhad distributed 30 million cards in 2014, with another 30 million left.<\/p>\n
He said while INEC had assured him the distribution would be completed for
\nthe February polls, he believed it would be more meaningful to allow more
\ntime for a successful election.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt costs you nothing, it\u2019s still within the law,\u201d Mr. Dasuki said he had
\ntold the INEC chairman, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
The opposition All Progressive Congress, APC, had vehemently rejected any
\ncall for the postponement of the 2015 general elections. But a coalition
\nof 16 registered political parties had threatened a boycott of the
\nelections if it is not postponed to allow for adequate distribution of the
\nPVCs.<\/p>\n
Below Is What Jega Said At Council of State Meeting<\/p>\n
* There are PVCs, which have been stolen before they were collected by
\ntheir owners, or which were damaged, or which were for people who have
\ndone transfers, and which the Commission has decided to reproduce.<\/p>\n
In any case the commission will appreciate advice on this matter.<\/p>\n
Card Readers<\/p>\n
The commission ordered for the production and delivery of 182,000
\ncustomized CRs, sufficient for 150, 829 voting points (VPs), plus
\nredundancies. Out of this number, 154,500 have since been delivered and
\ndistributed to the states and FCT. The remaining balance of 27,500 has
\nbeen produced and shipped and is expected on Wednesday February 4th (* The
\nWhistle notes that Jega briefed Council on the 5th and the materials were
\nyet to arrive).<\/p>\n
In the highly unlikely event that a CR fails, we have enough spares to
\ndeploy before the end of accreditation at 1PM and adjust the time to gain
\nlost time. (* The Whistle notes this is an Entirely Questionable
\nStatement)<\/p>\n
Non-Sensitive Materials<\/p>\n
There were delays in respect of sending the materials to Borno and Yobe
\nstates, because we have to keep them longer in the Zonal store until
\nadequate security arrangements have been made to transport them to the
\nstates. A couple of months ago, INEC\u2019s State office in Yobe was damaged by
\ninsurgents and 11 Hilux vehicles carted away.<\/p>\n
Although timelines have been missed in respect of the supply\/delivery of
\nsome of the non sensitive materials to the states, in general.<\/p>\n
Recruitment and Training of Ad hoc (Temporary) election Personnel<\/p>\n
Given that larger number of Ad hoc Staff will be used in 2015 compared
\nwith 2011, the training his slightly more challenging.<\/p>\n
With the benefit of hindsight, and given the new technology of PVC and CR,
\nwe could do with more days of especially hands-on training for POs and
\nAPOs. Regrettably we can\u2019t do that due to funding constraints. Also a more
\ndecentralized, LGA level training with smaller numbers on classroom would
\nhave been ideal.<\/p>\n
Public Enlightenment, Sensitization and Voter Education<\/p>\n
In a country the size and complexity of Nigeria, public enlightenment,
\nsensitization and voter education are circumscribed by enormous
\nchallenges.<\/p>\n
However, a lot more still needs to be done by all stakeholders to
\nintensify voter education as we get close to the dates of the elections.<\/p>\n
For things under the commissions control, our accomplishments are to such
\ndegree that we can conduct the election, in spite of the identifiable
\nchallenges.<\/p>\n
Consequently, although our state of preparedness may not be 100% or
\nperfect, and although a bit more time of additional preparation would
\nenable us improve and perfect the current level of preparedness, we
\nbelieved that we\u2019re ready for the elections as planned.<\/p>\n
No matter the extent of our readiness if there are serious security
\nconcerns the successful conduct of free, fair, credible and peaceful
\nelections would be greatly jeopardized.<\/p>\n
This is a new development that INEC cannot certainly ignore or take lightly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n