The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Monday said that Nigerians should not expect a perfect election in 2011.
Although Jega assured that the poll would meet the basic minimum international standard, he explained that difficult terrains and insecurity posed serious challenges to the conduct a flawless election.
He spoke at a stakeholders forum in Abuja just as an online news portal, the Economic Confidential, reported that the commission was considering the installation of electronic recording devices in ballot boxes as one of the means of checking rigging and other forms of electoral malpractices during the general elections.
Jega said at the forum titled, “Towards and Inclusive and Participatory 2011 Elections,” that INEC was determined to make the 2011 poll ‘remarkably better than previous ones.’
“People are expecting a perfect election, it will not happen. There is nowhere in the world where you have perfect elections; there will still be isolated cases of hitches,” he argued.
For the umpteenth time, Jega sought the support of Nigerians to make the elections a success as he explained that the resignation of INEC’s Resident Commissioner in Ondo State, Mrs Ayoka Adebayo, was a part of the commission’s ‘house cleaning’ exercise.
He said, “As I have said repeatedly, although the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in 2011 is the principal responsibility of INEC, it is not its exclusive responsibility. I believe that it is a task for all Nigerians.”
He emphasised the need to mobilise Nigerians to take active part in the process, especially during the registration of voters and subsequent elections.
The INEC chairman said, “Our preparations are aimed at ensuring that there are no serious hitches and that our people, whose confidence in the electoral process was shaken by the errors of the past, now see that there is the political will, honesty of purpose and total commitment on the part of INEC.
“Our commitment to deliver free, fair, and credible elections in Nigeria that significantly improves on all past efforts is serious and irrevocable.”
Jega stated that the target date for the delivery of the Direct Data Capturing machines by contractors to INEC was on course.
He announced that three consignments with over 15,000 units had already arrived the country ready for deployment.
Jega maintained that INEC was doing its best to overcome the problem of logistics associated with difficult terrain in some parts of the country.
He also used the occasion to announce that INEC was doing a “house cleaning” exercise, a development, which according to him, led to the recent resignation of Adebayo.
Jega said, “Everybody now knows that the REC (Adebayo) who handled the Ekiti election has resigned. That is part of the process, we are doing in-house cleaning.
“It is better than fighting the battle in the newspapers that is what Nigerians want, but we have more work than to do that.
A former Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Muhammadu Uwais, who also spoke at the event, advised that all hands must be on deck to restore public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC is expected to meet again with the leadership of the 63 registered political parties in the country.
On the surface, the meeting will be part of the ongoing consultation between INEC and political parties; but beneath is the issue of funding.
Jega, at a dialogue with professional bodies and civil society groups in Abuja, on Monday, decried a request by some of the political parties for INEC to provide funds for them to carry out voter/ civic education.
The INEC boss wondered why the election management body should be asked to fund what ordinarily was the functions of political parties.
Jega said, “Political parties are asking INEC to give them money to do voter/civic education. This is not done; they are supposed to do this on their own.”
Before the amendment to the Electoral Act (2010), INEC paid quarterly grants to each of the registered political parties.
The practice, however, ended with the amendment of the Act.
Meanwhile, INEC is considering the installation of electronic recording devices in ballot boxes and use of tiny surveillance equipment (like pens and telephone handsets) at polling booths.
The tiny devices, according to Economic Confidential, use batteries and solar energy.
It was reported last month that INEC was also planning to install Closed-Circuit Television cameras in critical polling units in the country in order to curtail malpractices during the poll.
CCTV cameras are electronic devices that record images for surveillance purposes.
When contacted on the planned measures, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said “the details of security measures for the elections cannot be put in the open space.”
Idowu, however, said that the commission would do everything possible to ensure the credibility and integrity of the elections.
According to him, part of the efforts is to ensure adequate monitoring and oversight of what is going on at the polling units.
This, he said, would not be done by INEC alone, adding that election observers would also play a role in ensuring adequate monitoring of the poll.
He explained that if the security measures were made public, those who planned to rig elections would devise ways of beating them.
Idowu said that the commission planned to take many steps to prevent rigging during the elections.
Recently, a National Commissioner of INEC, Dr. Abdulkadir Oniyangi, disclosed in Illorin, Kwara State, that the commission had commenced work with development partners to establish an electronic, real time monitoring of the registration process and elections, with possibilities of using high quality video.
source: http://www.punchng.com/
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