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Tag: Attahiru Jega

  • 2015: Jega defends INEC’s two-day election time table

    2015: Jega defends INEC’s two-day election time table

    150,000 polling units to be used

    Permanent voter card issuance ‘poor in Ekiti’

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will use about 150,000 polling units for the 2015 elections, its Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, said yesterday.

    The polling units will be 30,000 more than the 120,000 used for the 2011 elections.

    But Jega, who spoke in Lagos, ruled out holding the elections in one day because of what he called the ‘’enormous challenge involved’’.

    He said INEC was increasing the number of polling units because some units have as many as 3000 voters, adding : “This is not ideal. It should be an average size of 500 voters per unit.”

    INEC, he said, would not change the order of elections, noting that the presidential poll was not the first held in 2011, but the second after the National Assembly’s.

    He said: ‘’We did elections for three days in 2011, starting with the presidential, then the National Assembly and governorship/Houses of Assembly. In 2015, we have reduced the number of election days to two, beginning with the presidential/National Assembly, followed by the governorship/Houses of Assembly. We cannot do the elections in a day. To try it will be inviting more challenges to the system. Doing the elections in one day will mean deploying five different ballot boxes and ballot papers. We will also have to give illiterates too five different ballot papers.

    “Logistics will be too enormous. Instead of moving materials for a particular election, we will be moving materials for all the elections. It will be cumbersome. It is not impossible to do it in a day, but it will be challenging. So, we decided to hold it in two days. We decided to hold the presidential/National Assembly elections the same day and the governorship/Houses of Assembly the same day. We tried to be rational and logical in fixing the dates”.

    Jega denied that the African Peoples Congress was denied registration because of the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the process through which the associations sought registration was different.

    APC, he said, is the product of a merger of some existing parties, adding that the party complied with the requirements of merger and was registered.

    The African Peoples Congress, Jega said, was not registered because it did not meet the requirements for the registration of a new party.

    Jega said : “After looking at the documents of the African Peoples Congress, it was duly informed on why it could not be registered. APC met all requirements for merger. INEC was guided by the law in whatever it did. Anybody who feels otherwise can go to court.”

    The INEC chief said he harboured no fear over the outcome of the forthcoming National Conference affecting the 2015 elections, adding: “I have hopes for 2015; it will be better than 2011. But I have concerns that some politicians have not attuned their minds to ensure that the elections are free and fair.”

    To ensure credible elections in 2015, he said, INEC has cleaned up the voter register, pointing out that the integrity of the register is crucial to the integrity of the elections.

    The clean-up, Jega said, became necessary because INEC inherited a register “with too many challenges” in 2011, adding that there is need for continuous voter registration in most states to capture those who have attained the age of 18.

    He said the register was better than that of 2011 “and compares with any voter register in the world”.

    Eligible voters in all the states, he said, would get their permanent voter cards (PVCs) before the 2015 elections. The PVCs, he said, were being distributed in Ekiti and Osun states where governorship elections will hold on June 21 and August 9.

    Jega promised that there would not be a repeat of the Anambra State governorship election fiasco in Ekiti and Osun, saying the crisis was caused by the wrong distribution of the customised result sheets in Idemili North Local Government Area.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been threatening to reject the voter’s register which INEC wants to use for the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states and for the 2015 general elections.

    The party’s interim national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, told reporters at Ila-Orangun, his Osun State home town at the weekend, after collecting his permanent voter’s card that INEC’s records had been manipulated.

    He described his experience in Ila-Orangun as “very uncomfortable” because of so many “irregularities”.

    Akande said though he collected his card with ease, the story was different for many others, who had registered in 2011 but could not find their names in the register. Many people found their names appearing twice, according to him.

     

  • Ekiti, Osun polls must be credible, Fayemi tells Jega

    Ekiti, Osun polls must be credible, Fayemi tells Jega

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said the future of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega as the nation’s number one electoral officer is tied to his handling of the forthcoming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states.

    Fayemi spoke on Monday night during his monthly media chat, tagged: “Meet Your Governor”.

    He urged Jega to see the two elections as “serious tests”, which must not go the way of the Anambra State governorship poll.

    The governor urged politicians and parties to carry out their activities peacefully.

    He said should INEC bungle the Ekiti and Osun polls, “Jega may not be the one to conduct the 2015 general elections”.

    Fayemi said: “It is in the best interest of INEC to conduct a credible and transparent election in Ekiti in June. Jega should see the Ekiti poll as a serious test because, if he fails in Ekiti and Osun, he may not be the one to conduct the 2015 general elections.

    “INEC should ensure that the process is credible. It must demonstrate its readiness to conduct a credible election. You know that Ekiti people are very sensitive. We have seen terrible episodes of election management by INEC in the past in Ekiti State.

    “The people have seen the Ayoka saga, as well as the Ido/Osi saga. This time around, INEC must demonstrate its seriousness to conduct a credible election.”

    Fayemi debunked rumours “being peddled by the opposition” that he would victimise civil servants if reelected.

    He said by carry out some policies which most first term governors would not want to do, such as the biometric data of civil servants, which rid the system of ghost workers, he had shown that he was not a pretender.

    The governor said he would never victimise anyone and would continue to protect the people’s interests.

    He said the rumour originated from desperate politicians, who have no plan for the electorate.

    Fayemi said he has a name and record to protect, adding that his achievements in over three years can be measured by the electorate.

    He said: “The difference between an incumbent governor and a putative aspirant is that I have a record to defend. I can be measured in an objective and detached assessment.”

    On the delegation to the forthcoming National Conference, Fayemi said he was confident that it would represent the Ekiti people well.

    He advised that critical issues affecting the federation, such as fiscal federalism, should be addressed at the conference.

     

  • Jega lists challenges of 2015 poll

    Jega lists challenges of 2015 poll

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified logistics, funding and lack of voter’s confidence as major challenges facing the electoral body as the 2015 elections approach.

    INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, spoke in Asaba yesterday at a seminar by the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC), in collaboration with INEC. Its theme is: “Building confidence in the electoral system: the task before DSIEC.”

    Jegan assured that the commission would address the challenges before the poll.

    He said: “Logistics remain a major challenge in a country where basic infrastructure is still lacking. It should always be remembered that it is the same washed-off roads and treacherous waterways, the same poor water transportation facilities, the same airlines, which run late, the same difficult electricity situation, etc that are used by EMBs during election.

    “Yet, we cannot make excuses. What is required is to plan early, build the right partnerships, share our difficulties with the public to the extent possible and prepare our workers for the elections.”

    Emphasising the importance of funding, Jega said: “Planning is meaningless without adequate funding. This entails adequate fund provision and timely release of such funds.”

    He went on: “The commission received the support of the government in this regard in 2011. However, we cannot lose sight of the reality that elections only constitute a small, albeit important part of an array of things competing for funding.”

    What is important, the INEC boss said, “is that government and EMBs maintain a balanced view of funding election based on adequate resources and financial discipline,” adding: “A major cost component in Nigerian election is the personnel cost.”

    He said: “In the 2015 elections, our estimates suggest that nearly 50 per cent of the budget will go to personnel-related heads, particularly ad hoc workers.”

    Jega noted that although “elections management in Nigeria is challenging, with preparation, productive engagement with stakeholders, openness and accountability, our EMBs can build confidence in the electoral system to make election less conflict-prone.”

    Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan said lack of preparation on the part of politicians led to electoral conflicts, adding that some politicians oftentimes prepared petitions and planned for violence ahead of election proper.

     

  • INEC is preparing for 2015 elections, says Jega

    INEC is preparing for 2015 elections, says Jega

    •Corps members, ad hoc staff assured of security

    The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has said the failure of the commission to begin elections at the stipualted time has been a major challenge.

    He, however, assured that INEC was planning to address logistic problems before next year’s elections.

    Jega said the commission was putting finishing touches to its preparation to make the poll credible and transparent.

    The INEC boss, who spoke on the paper: “The 2015 General Elections: Conversations with Nigeria’s Female Stakeholders”, at the Nigerian Women Trust Fund Workshop at the Electoral Institute, Abuja, said INEC was discussing with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) authorities to provide the addresses of the NYSC camps for security.

    Jega noted that the attacks carried out on NYSC members in 2011 occurred mostly at the NYSC camps and to prevent recurrence, the commission would provide security at the camps before and after elections.

    He said security would also be provided for the ad hoc workers, who would be deployed during the poll.

    Said Jega: “We assure that preparations for the 2015 poll have begun.

    “Learning from the experience of the 2011 elections, especially regarding the need for early preparations, INEC has undertaken the task of fundamental restructuring of its bureaucracy. It has made new policies to guide its work and has embarked on far-reaching planning of its operations through a strategic plan.”

    He disclosed the completion of the consolidating and de-duplicating of the biometric register of voters, “which now has integrity, better than the one with which the 2011 elections were conducted.

    The INEC chairman said the efforts to ensure a free, fair, credible and peaceful elections should not be left in the hands of INEC alone, adding: “All stakeholders have roles to play.”

     

  • Inside Jonathan’s confab

    Inside Jonathan’s confab

    Want a peep into President Goodluck Jonathan’s impending National Conference (NC)? Just look back at the president’s pre-2011 election Attahiru Jega joker.

    But that doesn’t mean Jonathan would hold a monopoly of stunts at the NC. Good Lord, no! About every bloc coming there would stage manoeuvres; manoeuvres to outsmart the other bloc, and secure some short-term advantage. That would be perfectly Nigerian!

    Still, what is at stake is a future productive, truly federal Nigeria; as opposed to the present parasitic, pseudo-federal Nigeria, on auto-pilot to self-destroy.

    As things stand, and without being unnecessarily alarmist, it might just be the last opportunity for peaceful change; to reconfigure the country for sustainable development. Whoever wins in 2015, but with the present self-destruct structure unaltered, Nigeria would still be tethered to its old ruinous template.

    So, the confab should work towards a long-term solution to the perennial Nigerian crisis, and not short-term selfish manoeuvres. But it doesn’t appear the leading actors are thinking that way. They would rather game and push their luck.

    Besides, the build-up to the confab, its template of nominations and its general perception, have not betrayed any novel approach, judged against President Olusegun Obasanjo’s National Political Reforms Conference (2005) and Gen. Sani Abacha’s National Constitutional Conference (1994/1995).

    Yet, since these two confabs, rather than improve matters, the Nigerian polity has raced to the cliff at geometrical speed, to parody Thomas Malthus (1766-1834), that doomsday English cleric of the Industrial Revolution era (1770-1850).

    That brings the discourse back to the probable Jonathan motive by the confab, and the pre-2011 the Attahiru Jega joker.

    After the disastrous 2007 election, Maurice Iwu had come to the end of his tether. So, accidental President Jonathan allied himself with the popular clamour to remove Prof. Iwu and reform the electoral system; with the opposition making a feast of the Muhammed Lawal Uwais Electoral Reforms Panel’s recommendations.

    The president hit on the joker of Prof. Jega’s famed integrity — a sure winner, after Iwu’s Iwuruwuru years.

    But he did that without ceding, to the National Judicial Council (NJC), his sole power to appoint, subject to Senate confirmation, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chair and national commissioners, as the Uwais Panel had proposed.

    But even as President Jonathan rode the popular crest as electoral reforms (ER) president, he held close to his chest his decision to run or not to run. The not-so-hidden ploy was to shore up his credibility; and the not-so-unwritten script was to emerge the chief beneficiary from the ensuing reforms.

    Now, therefore, is a distinct sense of déjà vu. Then, it was ER. Now, it is NC. Then, mum was the word, on Jonathan running or not. Now, mum is the word on Jonathan’s re-run. Then, ER was a popular foil to build a callow president’s prospect. Now, NC is the platform to rebuild re-run credibility, after a president’s near-disastrous full term. As it was with ER, Jonathan’s mission is to emerge chief beneficiary of NC!

    The snag is, the deception is not so veiled this time round, if it was ever so veiled back then. Much as the president has tried, his lobbies continue to give the game away.

    Old man, Edwin Clark, keeps on alienating — as, by the way, he did with the North pre-2011 — with his vulgar abuse, other sections of the country he had decreed would vote his presidential godson. Young man, Asari Dokubo, keeps on his trashy threat of war, should Jonathan, his Ijaw kin, lose.

    Yet, the minority South-South lacks the number for Jonathan to prevail in a free and fair election. So, where will the tally come from — the marines?

    In the building scenario, the NC is as good a grandstand platform as any, for electoral harvest. That, of course, has fuelled leading opposition politicians’ wholesale dismissal of the exercise — another extreme, if you ask.

    President Jonathan apparently has tasted the sweet poison of Nigeria’s central coffers; and would appear in no hurry to surrender the honey pot — as the majority Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba, before him.

    Indeed, President Obasanjo so enjoyed the lollies he, without much ado, craved an unconstitutional third term, which he however continues to deny! The North, on the other hand, appears sold on the hubris that that honey pot is its divine right to keep — in perpetuity, if possible!

    Still, the Niger Delta continues to bear the ecological brunt of Nigeria’s oil wealth. So, it is in the South-South’s best interest that Nigeria be restructured so that region can, at least, marshal the cash to fix its oil-devastated ecology. So, should Jonathan go through the motions of another NC without radical re-tinkering of Nigeria, he would incur the boos of even generations unborn in the Niger Delta.

    Still, Jonathan and his lobby are not the only ones that would attempt to play games. The North, for one, with its siddon-look temper (apologies to the late Chief Bola Ige) may not have the clout to scuttle Jonathan confab.

    But it picks no bones about its preference for the status-quo, if sentiments from the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) are to be believed. That is apparently why the ACF has dismissed the Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG’s restructuring model, after its February 12 one-day Yoruba Constitutional Conference in Ibadan, Oyo State, as confederation bordering on disintegration.

    The South East is an interesting study in contrasts. While the extant partisan establishment over there seems resolved to put the future survival of their region at the service of Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential encore, Igbo Leaders of Thought, led by Prof. Ben Nwabueze, are insistent on cutting a fair deal for the Igbo nation in a truly federal and restructured Nigeria. It would be interesting how these two strands play out at the confab.

    But perhaps the most interesting manoeuvres would come from the South West. The traditional South West stand is radical restructuring ala Sovereign National Conference (SNC). That was basically the idea the ARG one-day Yoruba conference sold, even if the Jonathan confab is not sovereign.

    But immediate political exigencies have, somewhat, diluted this consensus. The current South West partisan lords of the manor would not touch the Jonathan confab. But the body language of followers, in that same ruling party, is much more nuanced and ambivalent.

    On the other hand, the Afenifere old guard, with a few young elements, are clambering on the Olusegun Mimiko Labour Party (LP) platform which, for sheer political survival, makes no secret of its Jonathan dalliance. As Mimiko courts Jonathan to survive, Afenifere courts Mimiko to fend off the looming hegemony of the Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) group.

    The question is how much of its SNC ideals Afenifere would trade off, for the Mimiko-Jonathan support, in mortal fear of an APC hegemony? So, when ARG roared against anyone betraying the “Yoruba cause”, at its Ibadan one-day meeting, it was clear the message was for the Mimiko-Afenifere camp.

    Again, it would be interesting how all these play out inside Jonathan’s confab.

  • 2015: INEC defends Feb date for polls

    2015: INEC defends Feb date for polls

    •Ekiti voters’ list out today

    Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has again defended the February dates for the 2015 elections.

    He said the dates would enable politicians with litigations to have enough time to attend to them.

    This, the INEC chairman said, is inevitable in Nigeria, where litigations need to be addressed before the handing over date and not to favour a group over the other.

    Prof Jega warned on the need for political parties to stick to timelines for campaigns.

    The INEC chairman debunked the reports that the commission provided two different voters’ lists for last November’s election in Anambra State.

    He said the voters’ lists for Ekiti State would be provided today as a prelude to the beginning of the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR).

    Jega spoke at the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC)/INEC Forum on: Broadcast Media Coverage of Election: A Preamble to 2015.

    He said: “Let me use the opportunity of this forum to restate that INEC’s choice of those dates was informed by purely rational and logical considerations. We have scheduled the elections for February 2015 to allow ample time for litigation, which are inevitable in our Nigerian context, before the commencement of new tenures of May 29, 2015.

    “The allegation that INEC changed the sequence of elections in 2015, when compared with 2011, is simply not true. In 2011, we had the National Assembly election first; then, the presidential election and lastly, the state elections into governorship and State Assembly seats.”

     

     

     

    Prof Jega, who also responded to the call for one-day elections, said the task was daunting for the country.

    He said: “There have been calls from some quarters that Nigeria should conduct one-day elections, as it is the practised in some other countries. Convinced in INEC that the challenges of holding one-day elections are too daunting for our democracy at this time, all we have done is to combine the national elections – namely for National Assembly seats and presidential – on one day, and states elections – for governorship offices and states Assembly seats – on another. This, for us, is rational and defensible things to do. But we also know that partisan criticism of whatever move we make is inevitable. So, we will just stay focused.”

    The INEC chairman expressed concerns about “increased tendency to pre-empt electioneering by political parties”.

    He said the commission had noticed in Ekiti and Osun states as well as on 2015 elections.

    Prof Jega reminded the political parties of the timelines for campaigns, adding that early campaigns would heat up the polity.

    He said: “One more issue that gives us increasing concern in INEC is the growing tendency by political parties towards pre-emptive electioneering. This tendency is a violation of statutory provisions – for instance, Section 99(1) of the Electoral Act 2010 – on the time when campaigns can be legally conducted. The notices we issued recently on the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states, as well as the 2015 elections, indicate the timelines for campaigns, based on legal provisions. Premature electioneering will not only heat up the polity unnecessarily, it will also be breaking established laws of this country.”

    The INEC chairman urged the media to cooperate with the commission to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in 2015.

    He said: “The media, just like the security agencies, have a role to play in discouraging the growing tendency and calling political actors to order for the good health of our democracy.”

    Prof Jega listed insecurity, funding, attitude of the political class and inactive citizenry as some of the challenges the commission was facing.

    The INEC chairman assured the commission was “doing all that is desirable to bring about free, fair, credible and peaceful elections”.

    He urged the media and other stakeholders to work with INEC to accomplish its tasks.

     

     

     

     

  • Judge frowns at INEC’s, others’ refusal to attend court

    Judge frowns at INEC’s, others’ refusal to attend court

    The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, yesterday frowned at the refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), its Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega and a firm to attend court to defend their request for stay of execution of the N17.3 billion judgment entered against them.

    The judge was livid that INEC, Jega and Zinox Technologies Ltd who, in their applications, had created the impression that the next general elections were threatened by the existence of the judgment, deliberately chose not to attend court when they were to argue their applications for stay of execution of the judgment.

    Justice Auta in the January 28 judgment faulted INEC and Jega over the N34.5 billion contracts they awarded in 2010 for the purchase of Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines for voter registration.

    The judge held that in the award and execution of the contracts, INEC, its chairman and three companies involved in the transaction, infringed on a valid and subsisting patent right owned by a firm – Bedding Holdings Ltd (BHL).

    Justice Auta declared that BHL was entitled to 50 per cent of the contract sum of N34,517,640,000 (which is N17,258,820,000 “being the minimum reasonable royalty accruable to the plaintiff “ for the unauthorised use of its invention.

    Defendants in the suit were INEC, Jega, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the companies to which INEC awarded the contracts – Haier Electrical Appliances Corporation Ltd, Zinox Technologies Ltd and Avante International Technology.

    Shortly after the judgment INEC, Jega and Zinox applied that the execution of the judgment be stayed on the grounds that they were planning to appeal.

    They argued, in the applications, that in view of huge judgment sum, they would be incapacitated and unable to function if the judgment was not stayed.

    In the application filed for them by A. B. Mahmoud (SAN), INEC and Jega drew the court’s attention to their ongoing preparation for the 2015 general elections and argued that “an execution of this judgment will render it impossible for the applicants to carry out this important constitutional and statutory duty.”

    BHL filed a counter-affidavit, where it urged the court not to stay the execution of the judgment, because it was incapable of hindering the applicants’ operations. The firm added that judgment was not to be paid from the judgment debtors’ future earnings or allocations, but from their earnings from the contract for which INEC had paid.

    BHL noted that INEC and its chairman disregarded an earlier judgment given against them in a sister case by another judge of the court, Justice Adamu Bello. It argued that it was necessary to preserve the dignity of the court by not granting the applicants’ applications.

    Parties were to appear before the court yesterday to argue their applications. While John Okoriko appeared for the judgment creditor, INEC, Jega and Zinox were not represented.

    The development angered the judge, who observed that the applicants, in their applications, created the impression that heaven would fall if their prayer was not granted, only for them to refuse to attend court when it was time for them to argue the applications.

     

     

  • Suspicious timetable

    Suspicious timetable

    • It shows how underdeveloped we still are as a nation

    The brouhaha over the recently released timetable for the 2015 general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) casts aspersion on the integrity of the electoral umpire. Nigerians have expressed concerns about the scheduled order of the elections. The commission, according to Mrs. Augusta Ogakwu, its secretary, places the presidential and National Assembly elections for February 14, 2015; the state assembly and governorship elections hold on February 28, 2015.

    The timetable also puts commencement date of primary elections of political parties for between October 2, 2014 and December 11, 2014. Political campaigns for presidential and National Assembly elections will commence on November 16, 2014 while campaigns for governorship and state assembly elections will take off on November 30, 2014. However Professor Attahiru Jega, INEC chairman, at a recent Chatham House, London presentation on “2015 Elections in Nigeria: Expectations and Challenges’’ defended the timetable which he said was “informed by rational and logical considerations, not sentimental or ulterior motivations.”

    However, the heap of doubts on the timetable is, regrettably, becoming a periodic issue. In the days preceding the 2011 general elections, something akin to this happened. This led to forced alteration of the timetable by a then largely suspicious National Assembly that believed that the Presidency influenced that year’s INEC timetable perceived to be detrimental to their interests. The National Assembly re-ordered the election schedule by putting its own elections first, followed by the presidential, governorship and state house of assembly elections. Shockingly too, due to lack of confidence in the system, some pundits are already calling for the intervention of the legislature in the matter again. We wonder: How long will partisan interests, rather than national, continue to dictate election timetable?

    INEC’s poor antecedent in the realm of election conduct in recent time has been shattering. The obvious bias displayed by the commission in last November’s Anambra State governorship election further amplify doubts about its capability to conduct free and fair elections in the country. For whatever it is worth, we, like most people, do not believe that the newly released timetable putting presidential election as first item on the agenda was done out of altruistic motive. It is also not out of place to contemplate the bandwagon effect that may ensue if the president’s party wins the presidential election. We share the sentiments of many Nigerians that are equally concerned about whether the elections will be free and fair in a country where institutions of state are imperilled by the whims and caprices of those in authority.

    We are aware, as a matter of fact, that millions of Nigerians are itching for change in 2015 despite manifesting concerns that the enabling environment may not be allowed if INEC has indeed been compromised by those who may covertly want to win at all cost. Pointers – Quite unusual of INEC tradition before releasing such important programmes, the newly unfurled 2015 election timetable did not benefit from consultations and deliberations with political parties and other stakeholders. Also, INEC has so far not been purged of officials who have been indicted by courts and election petition tribunals for their involvement in electoral malpractices in recent past. This has necessitated the question: Why? It is not in doubt that such disgruntled elements might have been used by external forces to influence this controversial timetable.

    We consider as discouraging a situation where an otherwise routine issue such as election timetable will be taking much of national attention. That shows how backward the nation still is in terms of election conduct. In a normal clime, where there is rule of law and respect for institutions, election timetable is actually taken as a foregone issue. The question: When is Nigeria going to get there with the inept approach of Professor Jega to handling election conduct in the land?

     

  • INEC to curb electoral violence

    INEC to curb electoral violence

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said there are measures in place to curb violence in the 2015 elections.

    Its Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, said the commission would be transparent to earn the trust of its various stakeholders.

    The commission said inflammatory and hate speeches among politicians are possible sources of pre- and post-election violence.

    Other sources, the commission said, are the “do-or-die” attitude of politicians to politics; the lack of internal democracy among parties, that is, the failure of parties to respect their constitution; ignorance and low civic education; the use of thugs to achieve victory; unwillingness of politicians to accept election results; monetisation of electoral processes by politicians and attempts to compromise election officials.

    Prof Jega spoke in Abuja when he presented a paper, titled: Curbing the rate of pre-and post-election violence in Nigeria, at the beginning of the Youth Against Election Violence, organised by Common Wealth Youth Council (CYC).

    The INEC chairman, who was represented by an electoral commissioner, Nne Gladys Nwafor, said: “Over the years, our elections have been dogged by violence across the country. The violence that attended the 2011 elections is still fresh in our minds.

    “To ameliorate violence, the commission has introduced transparent measures to elicit the trust and support of stakeholders. It has increased its enlightenment with stakeholders, such as the media, civil society organisations, politicians and political parties.”

    Reaffirming the role of the commission and its workers, Prof Jega noted that it was paramount to remain transparent in INEC’s engagements and diffuse tensions, reduce suspicion and speculations that could lead to election violence.

    According to him, INEC officials must work closely with state institutions, including security agencies, to identify early enough possible sources of violence so that the commission could prevent them.

     

  • Cleric demands free, fair poll

    Cleric demands free, fair poll

    Anglican Bishop of the Niger, Anambra State, Bishop Owen Nwokolo, yesterday urged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, to ensure that next year’s elections would not be muddled up as the previous ones.

    He enjoined the INEC boss to make sure that a comprehensive update of the voter register was done before the poll, to boost Nigerians’ and international community’s confidence in the electoral process.

    The cleric spoke in an interview after a collation service for archdeacons and cannons at the All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha.

     

     

    He said lack of a comprehensive and credible register would vitiate the credibility of the election, no matter INEC’s efficiency. Nwokolo said the electoral body should also ensure that the electoral materials were distributed in time to avoid confusion and lateness, which characterised previous elections.

    The bishop stressed the need for INEC to engage in public enlightenment to sensitise people on the preparation for the poll, the role they are expected to play and the need for them to vote on election day.