Former Chairman of the Independent National ElectoralCommission (INEC), Maurice Iwu, has predicted that the 2015 general elections will be difficult to conduct because the country is undergoing security threat. Iwu made the declaration during the lecture he delivered at the second anniversary of the Realnews, an online magazine in Lagos on Wednesday.
He said: “This election will be difficult to conduct because we are under attack and we all must rise up to defend the country in spite of political inclination,” he said.
Iwu, who also identified violence and financial inducement as major threat to Nigeria’s democracy, urged every Nigerian to “rise up and defend our democracy jealously.
“Violence and democracy has nothing in common and Nigerians must do the entire necessary thing to stop violence in the forthcoming elections.”
He decried the hijack of political parties by few individuals who have monopolized the process, which has led to lack of internal democracy in many existing political parties in the country.
He added that lack of internal democracy has robbed the country of the best people to contest elective positions in the country. “Gone are the days when you see retired teachers, judges going to contest elective positions in the country. In the best dispensation, it is impossible to have such people in politics even if they are the best materials”.
Iwu further lamented that if the country had adhered to his advise on the continuous registration of eligible voters and electronic voting, there would not have been need for people to spend days queuing to be registered as being experience today in the country.
The former INEC boss stated that if the people can change their mind set, there appears to be a better prospect for the country in 2015.
“The prospect for future elections in Nigeria is very bright. 2015 offers opportunity to consolidate on the gains of 1999”. He urged Nigerians to do the right things, saying once done, the country will get to the desired political destinations.
Meanwhile, in the face of security challenges in the North-East and the continued clamour for the respect of the civic rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it is determined that every eligible voter in the country votes in the 2015 general elections.
The Commission stated that it is learning from the experiences of other countries and other Election Management Bodies (EMBs) to ensure that every eligible voter in the country is given an opportunity to vote.
Chairman of INEC, Attahiru Jega, disclosed this while speaking at a round-table meeting with stakeholders on IDPs and the 2015 general elections held in Abuja, which was organised by INEC and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), with support from USAID and the UK’s DFID on Wednesday.
Jega said: “as we prepare for the 2015 general elections, INEC’s objective is to ensure that every registered voter in this country has an opportunity to vote and exercise their civic rights.
“On the context that many people are misplaced from the three states under state of emergency, it is important that we learn from other cases and share from the experiences of other EMBs so that we know how to adequately cater for the displaced persons in preparation for the general elections.”
According to an INEC bulletin made available to media houses in Abuja, Jega explained that upon exploring the provisions of the 1999 Constitution 1999 (as amended) and the Electoral Act (as amended), the Commission would require the National Assembly to intervene by considering the proposed amendment to the relevant sections of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) in order to avoid legal challenges in catering for the IDPs.
In his speech, Country Director, IFES, Shalva Kipshidze, noted that the Nigerian case is a rather peculiar situation, but believed that sharing experiences with other EMBs would help.
Kipshidze explained that IDP cases in the past were made successful by legislative changes, saying he was not sure if such legislation would be possible in Nigeria before the 2015 elections due to time constraint and the process involved.
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