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The Presidency yesterday explained
President Goodluck Jonathan’s disposition to a shift in the February
poll dates, saying the President was concerned about the credibility of
the outcome of the general election slated for February 14 and 28.
According to the Senior Special
Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, Dr.
Jonathan’s concerns stemmed from the state of preparedness of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the polls.
At a news conference in Abuja on Friday,
the Presidency raised issues on some registered voters across the
federation who have not been able to obtain their permanent voter cards
(PVCs).
The President also expressed
apprehension about the security situation in four Northeastern states of
Adamawa, Borno, Yobe and Gombe.
He is worried that the bloody attacks by
the Boko Haram insurgents and the ongoing counter-insurgency campaign
may pose danger to the conduct of elections in the four states.
Giving a detailed accounts of Thursday’s
Council of State meeting presided over by the President, Okupe said:
“President Jonathan is not interested, neither is he engaged in any form
of subterfuge to pressure INEC to change the dates of the 2015
elections.
“Secondly, I wish to state categorically
here that at no time during the entire seven-hour meeting did the INEC
Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, insist that the elections must hold on
February 14th and 28th 2015 as published by some electronic/print media.
“Rather, Prof. Jega gave the Council a
report on the progress so far made by the INEC on its preparedness for
the 2015 elections.
“In all its submissions, the only process that was 100% concluded was the preparation and availability of the voters register.
“All other processes including
provision, distribution and collection of PVCs, printing of ballot
papers, distribution of verification machines and other non–sensitive
materials, recruitment and training of ad hoc staff, were as at 5th Feb
2015, all works in progress; with some assurance that all will be ready
on or before 14th of February 2015.
“The Chairman also mentioned clearly
that given a little more time, INEC would be in a better position to
perfect these processes and its readiness for the 2015 elections.”
Okupe also quoted the INEC Chairman to
have told the Council that for the electoral process to be free, fair
and credible, there are other matters which were not under the control
of the electoral body.
“Principal among which is the issue of provision and guarantee of security of lives and property.
“The Security Chiefs were unanimous in
their advice to the Council that it will be impossible for now for them
to guarantee security of electoral materials, INEC Staff, and the voting
population in the areas currently engulfed by the war against
insurgency,” Okupe added.
The President’s aide stated further that
some opinions were proffered that elections may be allowed to hold on
the February 14 in the 32 states not affected by the ongoing
counter-insurgency campaign; while local elections may thereafter hold
in those areas after the security situation would have improved.
He continued: “The President made it
clear that he cannot in good conscience endorse an electoral arrangement
where people from a section of the country would be excluded from the
electoral process, due to no fault of theirs, or by virtue of just being
unfortunate residents of an area under siege of terrorism.
“According to Mr President, this
situation will tend to confirm the deliberate falsehood already being
propagated in some parts of the country that he was encouraging the war
in the North East to ensure that voters in the APC states of the North
East were not allowed to vote in the 2015 elections.
“The final conclusion was that INEC
should in view of the several submissions made in the Council by the
former presidents, state governors and the security agencies, go and
consult further after which they should communicate their decisions to
the Nigerian people on the suitability or otherwise of the February
14thand 28th dates.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Nigerians
are hereby re-assured that there has never been, and never shall be any
plan to cancel the 2015 elections, for any reasons whatsoever.
“It will not happen, and the May 29th
date for the swearing-in is sacrosanct. All talks about interim
government arrangement is pure fiction.
“The consideration behind the
possibility of change of date is to allow those who may be disfranchised
from voting on the 14th February to have an opportunity to exercise
their lawful rights to vote and participate in the general elections.
“The new wave of successes being
recorded by the military in the war against insurgency, especially with
the arrival of new effective combatant equipment and machinery, plus the
newly revamped cross-border co-operation with Niger, Chad and
Cameroonian military, offer a very genuine hope that in a very short
while, the situation in the affected states will be brought under such
reasonable control that will guarantee safety of the electoral process
and electorate in the war front region of the North–East at a no distant
future.”
The Presidency insisted that the only
set of people who stand to benefit from a shift in election dates are
Nigerians who desire to vote and have not been able to collect their
permanent voters cards (PVCs) and other innocent citizens living in the
war zone who may not be able to vote on the 14th February.
The President’s aide recalled that in
2003, 2007 and 2011, the elections were held in April, and the hand-over
date was not affected.
He challenged the opposition to tell
Nigerians in clear terms what dangers the change of date from February
14th portends to the electoral process or to the Nigerian electorate.
“It will also be good if the opposition tells us who stands to benefit or be disadvantaged from any shifting of date and how.
“This administration remains committed
to a transparent, credible all inclusive free and fair elections, and
will ensure that it employs all powers available to it to guarantee that
this happens without any infringement on our sacred constitutional
provisions,” Okupe stated.
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