Last night being the 7th of February 2015, INEC
chairman Attahiru Jega announced the postponement of the 2015 general
elections. Below is the full statement he gave to the press...
Ladies and Gentlemen,
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. Continue reading after the cut....
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 itselfbe
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 for February 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 5thFebruary
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 are today 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:
(i) 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?
(ii) 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 notbeing 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 on April 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 circumstancesapprove 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
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