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Tag: Jega

  • NHRC condemns move to discredit Jega, INEC

    NHRC condemns move to discredit Jega, INEC

    The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)  yesterday deplored  what  it called  attempts by some individuals and political parties to discredit the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the build up to the coming  elections.

    NHRC  Chairman  Chidi Odinkalu, speaking against the backdrop of  the recent call by Chief Edwin Clark-led Southern Nigerian Peoples Assembly for the sack and arrest of  Jega, noted that the legitimacy of the  electoral process requires that every Nigerian  believes and respects the capacity of the commission  to deliver credible elections.

    “Let’s stop tarnishing INEC. The political parties, citizens, social media people should stop it. Tarnishing INEC can guarantee electoral violence,” Odinkalu said  at the launch of the NHRC’s report and advisory on election violence.

    The 80-page report captured incidents of election violence during electoral campaigns.

    He added: “There are few Nigerians who will accept INEC Chairmanship and bring  the level of integrity he (Jega) has brought to the job.

    “He (Jega) is a human being. He is not perfect. But, you know what? He has a wife, he’s got children, he’s got grandchildren, he’s got students who went through him and he is a decent man.

    “He is not a thief; he is not a rogue. He wants to do the best work he can and we’ve got to support him. And we don’t support him alone, we should support his team.

    The NHRC said  about 58 Nigerians have been killed in pre-election violence in 22 states of the federation  in the last 60 days.

    Twenty-two of the deaths occurred in  11 incidents in Lagos State, followed by Kaduna with nine deaths in  three incidents and  Gombe  with five deaths in three incidents.

    There were six incidents in  Rivers State, including the detonation of explosives and attacks on courts.

    Odinkalu, who decried the increasing  violence  said  that the majority of young Nigerians, who will decide the outcome of elections lack memories of violence in the nation’s post-independence struggle.

    He said Nigeria is capable of conducting violence-free elections  and announced plan by the commission  to invite President Goodluck Jonathan, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Adamu Mu’azu, and his APC counterpart, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to jointly record a message denouncing violence and urging Nigerians to shun electoral violence.

    He said the message would be disseminated through all known platforms of mass communication.

  • ASUU urges Nigerians to resist plans to sack Jega

    ASUU urges Nigerians to resist plans to sack Jega

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities has alerted Nigerians of alleged grand plan by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to send the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on terminal leave.

    ASUU ‎in a resolution reached at the end of a National Symposium on the 2015 elections and signed by Chairman of the union at the University of Ibadan chapter, Prof. Segun Ajiboye, asked Nigerians to be alert to the grand plan to scuttle 2015 general election.

    ASUU warned the cabals to tread with caution as the Nigerians are too sensitive to be forced to succumb to tyrannical ploy.

    “Having succeeded in using military chiefs to influence the shifting of the polls, the next plan on their agenda is to ask Prof. Attahiru Jega to proceed on terminal leave, while they bring a willing tool who will do their bidding to rig the elections in their favour,” the union said.

    While urging Nigerians to stand up and resist elements of retrogression, ASUU noted that anyone who emerges from a credible, free and fair election must be ready to implement fully the 2009 agreement reached with the union.

    ASUU which lamented the haphazard implementation of the agreement, said a purpose and focused attention on education will engender development in Nigeria.

     

  • David-West tackles Clark on call for Jega’s resignation

    David-West tackles Clark on call for Jega’s resignation

    A former Minister of Petroleum, Prof. Tam David-West, yesterday described Chief Edwin Clark’s call on Prof. Attahiru Jega to resign his appointment for refusing to agree to the postponement of this month’s poll as “irresponsible.”

    Clark and some notable Nigerians had called for Jega’s resignation on Thursday following the latter’s  insistence on conducting elections as scheduled.

    While speaking to our correspondent on the telephone in Ibadan yesterday, the former minister said by calling on Jega who is the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)  to resign for insisting on conducting elections as scheduled, confirmed that Clark does not like Nigeria as he professes.

    He said “the call is a confirmation that President Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have a hidden agenda.”

    David-West further said: “Chief Edwin Clark’s call for Prof. Jega’s resignation is the most irresponsible demand. By his call, Clark has shown that he does not like this country.

    “The development is good for Nigeria. I thank God that what is happening is bringing new dynamics to Nigerian politics. This is the first time in the history of Nigerian politics that a government in power is afraid of election. It is a paradigm shift in the dynamics of Nigerian politics.”

  • Will the elections hold?

    Will the elections hold?

    The presidential election is a week away, that is, if it is not scuttled by the frenzied call for postponement. As strident as those calls are, there have also been boisterous demands for INEC to conduct the elections as scheduled. The Chief Justice of Nigeria has weighed in on the side of reason with his mature counsel to judges to avoid being used to scuttle our hard-earned democracy. It is indeed disheartening to witness another June 12 in the making, and from the same set of characters or their offspring. Gene really matters. What is surprising, however, is the successful recruitment of the victims of past assaults on democracy to the camp of the assaulters. Fully aware that the present agitation for postponement has followed the very same script used in 1993, I don’t see how anyone can be so fooled as not to detect the real motive behind the call.

    The Council of States was called to weigh in, but since its meeting was still going on as of the deadline for submitting this piece, I cannot factor the resolution of that body into my reflections today.

    What is clear to me is that the drummer to whose beat this mad dancing is a response is somewhere close to the Rock. But let us examine the issues dispassionately. First, in the matter of the distribution of PVC, with INEC’s latest release that over 45 million voters (about 66 per cent of the registered electorate) have collected their PVCs and the extension of the deadline to February 8, it should be a reassuring piece of news. The election agency also confirmed that all PVCs are available for collection at designated centres. It is then the responsibility of individuals to find time to collect. Some state governments have taken the initiative to make it easy for their residents to discharge this patriotic responsibility by declaring work free days. One would expect the Federal Government as well as the state governments to follow this example if in fact they are serious about avoiding the disenfranchisement of citizens.

    Second, it has been alleged that INEC has neither recruited nor trained the over 900,000 workers that it plans to use for the elections. If this is true, it is troubling. However, the veracity of the claim is doubtful since INEC has been consistent in its assurance that it is ready and determined to conduct a successful election.

    Third, a preposterous claim by election fear mongers is that the contract for the printing of ballot papers had not been awarded for an election that is only a week away. I find it very difficult to believe this in view of the fact that INEC Chair, Professor Attahiru Jega, is not a new kid on the block. He conducted what everyone agreed was a successful presidential and general elections in 2011, and has had other successes in the various off-time elections since then. If ballots have not been printed by now, then of course there is a serious problem. Bear in mind, however, that this allegation has come from a group that has stopped at nothing to convince us that the elections are bound to fail unless we yield to their demand for postponement. I would rather hear from the horse’s mouth concerning the readiness or otherwise. What I am hearing from INEC is a confirmation of its readiness.

    Lastly and most unfortunately, the issue of security has been added to the pack. We are now being told that security forces need two to three months to mop up the Northeast and take back lost territories. What has eluded them in four years, they plan to achieve in three months! How realistic is this? And does it matter to the plotters of this scheme if there is a constitutional crisis?

    Jonathan’s score card

    It is really sad that the president has found himself in this pathetic situation for which he has only himself to blame. Leadership has its demands, the most important of which is strength of conviction and firmness of purpose in pursuit of the right and just. This is what Jonathan lacks and this is turning out to be his undoing should he lose the election. But since miracles do happen, should he win by some magic, it is what he has to pay attention to in a second term.

    A few weeks ago on this page, I identified three major issues at stake in this election as security, corruption and the economy. To be as charitable as possible, given the prevailing conditions, it is clear that Jonathan cannot receive a pass mark for his handling of security and corruption and only a below average on the economy.

    We are told that under Jonathan’s watch, Nigeria has become the largest economy in Africa and he has claimed that he has created more millionaires in Nigeria than at any time. Yet our poverty level is sky high. There is mention of the resuscitation of railroads. But industrialists and business people have to provide the train cars to move their goods. In the matter of energy, his supporters would not like us to remember Jonathan’s 2011 declaration that if he can’t improve on power within four years, it means that he cannot do anything even if he’s there for additional four years.

    On security, our president did not initially take the menace of insurgency seriously, choosing to blame imaginary sponsors, an unforgivable shirking of the most important responsibility of any government. Between 2011 and 2013 the president and his team didn’t know what to do as they played the ostrich. It was this mindset that led to the denial of the kidnapping of over 200 Chibok girls, still the nation’s worst nightmare. With the terrorists’ control of swaths of the national territory, it is clear that the president has violated his oath to protect the territorial integrity of the country.

    Evaluating Jonathan’s non-performance in tackling corruption is a nausea-inducing exercise, since for him we shouldn’t be unduly concerned about corruption because what ails the nation is stealing and not corruption. Presumably, this is why there hasn’t been any high profile indictment since Jonathan took over as president and why he has been reluctant to fire cabinet members and other government officials implicated in shady deals. But Dr. Jonathan didn’t have any hesitation removing Justice Salami and CBN Governor Sanusi for doing their jobs! And while security forces lack funds and equipment to execute the war on terror, militants receive huge contracts for the supply of weapons.

    Beside corruption in terms of material acquisition to the detriment of the state, there is moral depravity. While a number of people close to him have adjudged the president a good-natured person, it is unfortunate that he has not applied his good nature on behalf of good cause, especially with regard to impunity within the ruling party.

    The moment that the president lost me completely was when he approved the blatant disrespect for democratic values by the PDP governors pursuant to the well-publicised Nigerian Governors’ Forum elections. How any right-thinking person, let alone the President of a nation, can support the grossly irresponsible conduct of those PDP governors and their co-travellers in shame is beyond me. How can I ever again trust my president to make a morally sound judgment in cases in which his selfish interest is at stake? The precedent set by that perfidy was recently followed to the letter by Ekiti PDP lawmakers. But unless you are an unrepentant egoist, the idea of rational morality is that even in cases where your interests are affected, you must follow the dictate of morality, which may justifiably require the sacrifice of your interests for the greater good. By the way, isn’t this also the dictate of Christianity? That our president accords his political self-interest priority over the greater good of fostering democracy even when it hurts is an indictment of his moral leadership.

  • Coalition alleges plan to remove Jega

    Coalition alleges plan to remove Jega

    A Coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has alleged plans to remove Prof. Attahiru Jega as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The groups also said there were plans to postpone this month’s general elections by using the judiciary

    The coalition made up of the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and others said it was also aware of plans to declare INEC unfit to manage the elections, thereby leading to its postponement.

    An activist, Mrs. Saudatu Mahdi, who spoke on behalf of other members of the coalition in Abuja yesterday, cited the alleged lapse in the distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) as the main reason.

    Mrs. Mahdi said: “In the last few days, there have been different shades of sponsored agitation. We know that the overall objective is to create an atmosphere of uncertainty to justify shift in the polls.

    “The enemies of Nigeria’s democracy, we make bold to say, are planning to remove the INEC chairman to pave the way for the appointment of a plaint, submissive and dependent stooge, who will be more willing to do the bidding of the powers that be.

    “A corollary to this is what we already see playing out in some states, where some INEC’s resident electoral commissioners are going into overdrive in a bid to please the powers that be.”

    She said the coalition was aware of the existence of some fifth columnists, who were  eager to blunt the goodwill of the INEC chairman by recruiting crowds to protest against him.

    Also speaking, the TMG Chairman, Ibrahim Zikirullahi, while condemning plans to use the judiciary to scuttle the polls, urged well-meaning citizens as well as the intelligentsia to brace themselves  to defend democracy.

  • No going back on Feb polls –Jega

    No going back on Feb polls –Jega

     THE Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),  Prof Attahiru Jega, has insisted that the 2015 general election will go on as planned.

    Jega noted that the commission was working with an election timetable which was issued a year ago and was fully determined to implement thE timetable to the fullest.

    He therefore noted that the commission at no time contemplated postponement of the general election.

    Meanwhile, Jega has assured Nigerians that the commission will ensure that all registered voters get their Permanent Voter Cards before the February election.

    Jega also maintained that there was no going back on the use of PVC in the elections, stressing that return to the use of the Temporary Voter Cards as being called for in some quarters will set the country and the commission backward.

    He also announced that INEC has so far produced 50 million PVCs which, according to him, have been made available for collection out of the 68.8 million registered voters, with 30 million already collected.

    Jega noted that the commission was aware of the ongoing anxiety in the country over the PVCs. He however assured the gathering that INEC would do everything possible to ensure that all the cards are distributed.

    He also hinted that in the worst case scenario, the commission will distribute the cards until the eve of the presidential election.

    Prof. Jega also listed Plateau, Katsina, Kano, FCT, Edo, Cross River, and Bayelsa as states with high number of complaints related to PVC distribution.

    The INEC chairman spoke at a programme for mitigation of violence in election (MOVE) project launch organised by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). Also in attendance was the President of the Court of Appeal, Justoce Zainab Bulkachuwa, and European Union (EU) first Secretary, Alan Munday.

    He said: “A major source of electoral fraud in this country, is the manner in which politicians and\or their supporters either buy off voter cards or steal voter cards, which they give to other people rather than the true owners to go and vote for them on election day.

    “ So we examined this when we were processing the voter cards and the law requires  INEC to produce permanent voter cards.

    “Before 2011, we produced temporary voter cards because there was no enough time to produce PVC for everybody. Because of the authentication that would be carried out on the day of the elections, that Is why we don’t want to use TVCs because they cannot be read by card readers.

    “So, we have done everything possible to test the integrity of both the card readers and the card, and we fill so confident that using them will put additional value to the integrity of the election process.

    “So the key challenge is how can we ensure that on the election day nobody was disenfranchised. That any person who had registered would have his voter cards produced and made available to him or her so that they can participate in the election.

    “We know that there is a lot of anxiety in the country now because the rate of collection of the cards is slow and because there are some of the cards we have not produced yet. But we are doing everything possible to ensure that before the end of this month, all the cards are produced and made available for people to collect them.

    “The collection has also been a problem. There are millions of cards available for people to collect. We have given people up to 31st January to collect their cards. But if push comes to shove, we can distribute up till the eve of the election.“

    Jega would not comment on the reported call by the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki that the commission should postpone the election, saying “I don’t want to comment on this. Like everybody, we read it in the papers. I myself, many things have been attributed to me which I know I didn’t say. So until I can confirm and get clarification, it will be premature for me at this public event to start saying anything.

    “In any case, anything I communicate is the commissions position and the commission has not discussed this matter and taken a position on it. So I want to be more patient on this. I cannot comment on this for now.”

    Jega also castigated the advert placed in some national newspapers by Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, urging the media to act responsibly.

    He stressed that the media should be able to reject some advertorials when the message is capable of inciting or causing provocation among the people.

    He said: “There is a consensus on non-violence. Newspapers should exercise self censorship; not to take money and just put anything that is given to them. They have to be careful and ask, ‘If we put this message, what would be the negative implication of it in terms of Provokating people or inciting violence?’

    “There are so many things that the media can do. Press freedom is absolutely necessary and there is nothing anybody can do to infringe on that right.

  • Still on Jega’s PVC troubles

    SIR: I wish to call on the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to kindly ask his officials to release our voter’s card in Katsina State. Since the start of the distribution of the  Permanent voter’s card (PVC) this month, the exercise has been mired with irregularities most of which stems from the from inability to find the PVC.

    Four years since the the temporary voter’s card was issued, it is sad to note that INEC has not been able to make adequate arrangements for distributing the PVCs across the nation. It will be recalled that over N100 billion naira was said to have been spent by the commission in 2011 – to make all arrangements for a free, fair, credible elections in 2015.

    In Katsina for example, the distribution of the PVC was postponed three times before it finally kicked off. Now that I has started, over 1.5 million PVCs are said to be missing or at least, unaccounted for. When the exercise started, the officials only spent four days. And now that registration for those that lost their own and fresh registration have started, it has only been carried out in four places, and all the places have long queues of people aggressively waiting to be registered.

    INEC and other relevant stakeholders in the PVC distribution process should get their acts together to solve this problem. Already people are insinuating that the INEC is planning to rig elections in 2015, by deliberately causing difficulties in the exercise and limiting participation.

    I call on Professor Attahiru Jega to please find a way to quickly resolve the problem; I also call on Nigerians to be patient and law abiding.

     

    • Comrade Abdulbaqi Jari Katsina, Katsina

  • ‘INEC worried over violation of electoral code’

    ‘INEC worried over violation of electoral code’

    Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has expressed worries over the forthcoming 2015 general election.

    The INEC chairman said the major challenge facing the commission now is to see how to make the political gladiators respect the code of conducts they signed.

    He spoke on Monday at the 9th Public Lecture of the Electoral Institute (TEI) and INEC with the theme: “Youth and Electoral Violence In Africa: Lesson for Nigeria,” held in Abuja.

    He reiterated that hate messages promotes violence and hence the need to keep by the rules of the game which would obviously help to promote peace.

    “The challenge is mediating among politicians to respect the code of conduct that they have signed,” Jega said.

    As part of the efforts to reduce hate messages, he said the commission would be meeting with traditional rulers to assist in passing the message of peace.

    He also noted that the commission will improve its voter education programme.

    Earlier, the Guest Speaker, Dr. Funmi Olonisakin, Director, African Leadership Centre (ALC), Kings College, University of London, warned against deployment of security operates during elections without training them properly on electoral process.

    She said, “As much as possible, security personnel should not be deployed unless INEC has certified that they have received electoral security training.”

    This, she explained is different from standard operating procedures of the police.”

     

  • ‘Jega may not conduct credible polls’

    ‘Jega may not conduct credible polls’

    THE Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Lagos State chapter has said that the Chairman, of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, may not conduct  free and fair elections in 2015.

    The group made this known in a press statement signed by its Chairman, Hon. Akionla Obadia, following the assessment of the  Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) distribution in 11 local governments.

    “What borders us is the lacklustre performance of the INEC, knowing well that Lagos is one of the most populous states, based on population registration. Therefore, they ought to have prepared for this important exercise. For the INEC to have come with kids gloves to face the enormous population of Lagos State is a disaster.

    “A visit to Mushin, Ajeromi Ifelodun, Badagry and Ikeja local governments as a text case is a clear manifestation of the INEC’s unpreparedness for a free and fair election in 2015.”

    Obadia lamented that the commission  has been caught in the web, adding that it has to  convince Nigerians that it is not backing  Dr Jonathan’s hidden agenda.

    He added:  “We are confident that 2015 will roll out God’s agenda for Nigeria but INEC should not start complicating issues.

    We, the CNPP in Lagos State therefore, appeal to the management of INEC to retrace their steps now and remember that Nigeria is larger than any minacious agenda.”

  • Jega should resign now, says Rep

    Jega should resign now, says Rep

    THE Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has been advised to resign his position to give room for a more competent individual, following an alleged inability to effectively manage the voter registration and the distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

    A member of the House of Representatives, Lanre Odubote, gave the advice in Epe, at the inauguration of a block of three classrooms and a staff room he built and donated to LGA Central School, Agbowa, Epe.

    The lawmaker said the postponement of the distribution of the PVCs in eight local governments in Lagos State, including Epe, is an indication that Jega could not be trusted with the bigger responsibility of managing next year’s elections.

    Odubote, who represents Epe Federal Constituency, noted that the postponement of the distribution of the cards in parts of the state is only part of the lack of capacity that Jega has shown in the discharge of his responsibility, adding that such had been the experience in all the places where the PVCs have been distributed.