How military chiefs got INEC to postpone polls

The inability of military authorities to assure the Independent
National Electoral Commission, (INEC) of a secured
atmosphere for the conduct of the general elections, according
to TheCable, an online news medium, may have forced the
commission to yield to the pressure of shifting the dates of
the elections by six weeks.
Although INEC was reported to have given other reasons for
the shift in the dates of the elections which were initially
scheduled for 14th and 28th of this month, TheCable insists
that the threats by the security chief that the nation’s military
authorities could not guarantee security for the conduct of the
polls necessitated the decision for the postponement
Senior military chiefs were reported to have said at the
meeting of the National Council of State last Thursday that
Nigeria’s security agencies were overstretched because of the
scaling-up of the war against Boko Haram involving the coun­
try and neighbouring African countries. The shift was a sudden
volte-face by the electoral umpire which had earlier insisted
that the exercise would go on as scheduled despite concerns
over the commission’s level of preparedness as many feared
that a lot of qualified Nigerians could be disenfranchised
following INEC’s failure to complete the distribution of PVCs.
An INEC official was quoted to have informed TheCable that
Professor Attaihiru Jega was caught in a dilemma when he
was informed about the military’s plan to back out of the
whole exercise should INEC fail to extend the dates of the
polls by at least six weeks to allow the operations against
Boko Haram to be concluded. “They told him that it is in the
national interest and INEC’s interest to hold elections in all
the states of the federation, which can only be done if the
Boko Haram insurgents are completely incapacitated in those
states,” the source said.
Indication that the elections could be shifted forward emerged
few weeks ago when the National Security Adviser, Col.
Sambo Dasuki (retd) disclosed in London that he had advised
INEC to postpone the polls because of the concerns over PVC
distribution.