STATEMENT ON THE TIMETABLE FOR 2015
GENERAL ELECTIONS BY THE CHAIRMAN, INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION
(INEC), PROFESSOR ATTAHIRU M. JEGA, AT A PRESS CONFERENCE ON FEBRUARY 07th,
2015.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Introduction
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 itself
be 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 5th February 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:
- 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?
- 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 not being 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 circumstances approve 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.
As for us in INEC we’ll endeavour to
use the period of the extension to keep on perfecting our systems and processes
for conducting the best elections in Nigeria’s history. In particular, we
believe that we would resolve all outstanding issues related to non-collection
of PVCs, which agitate the minds of many Nigerians.
Finally, we wish to call on all
Nigerians to accept our decision, which is taken in good faith and the best
interest of deepening democracy ion our country.
Thank you.
Professor Attahiru M. Jega, OFR is Chairman,
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
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