Full INEC Chairman's Statement on 2015 Election Schedule

INEC Chairman's Statement

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 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 14 th 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.
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
Chairman, INEC