Last night, INEC chairman
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.
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.
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