Jega: why we postponed the Feb 2015 elections

The Chairman, Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has said
that there were `new developments’ that
needed to be addressed before the conduct of
the 2015 general elections.
Jega made the remark on Saturday in Abuja
when he and other officials of the commission
met with representatives of the registered
political parties at the commission’s
headquarters.
He said that the inputs of the leaders of the
political parties were important in addressing
the new developments.
Meanwhile there are strong indications that the
presidential and National Assembly elections
originally scheduled for 14 February may have
been rescheduled to March 28 while the
governorship and state houses of assembly
elections earlier fixed for 28 February may now
hold on 11 April, all of these subject to final
ratification of the meeting between INEC
National Commissioners and State Resident
Electoral Commissioners currently ongoing.
The decision to reschedule the elections may
have come out of the meeting of the electoral
commission, political parties and civil society
organisations.
Sixteen political parties favoured the
rescheduling of the elections while nine were
against
Jega said that though the commission had its
regular meeting with the political parties last
week; it now became necessary to hold another
meeting before the commencement of the 2015
elections.
“The main purpose of this meeting is to update
you on the commission’s preparation for the
2015 elections, draw your attention to some new
developments and get your inputs as to how the
commission should address them.
“This meeting will raise the new developments
and get your inputs as to how the commission
should address the challenges,’’ he said.
In his remark, Dr Yunusa Tanko, the Chairman,
Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), said the
council had been advocating that it should be
considered whenever the commission was taking
any decision.
“The council has right from onset been making
tremendous contributions to our democracy.
“But unfortunately, the issues that all of us
have been raising long before now have never
been considered or put into perspective,’’ Tanko
said.
He urged the leaders of the political parties who
attended the meeting to put Nigeria first in their
responses to the new developments mentioned
by Jega.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that
officials of the commission and the
representatives of the registered political parties
later went into a closed door meeting.
Meanwhile the Chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission, also met with 25
civil society groups in Abuja Saturday informing
them that all security agencies in the country
have indicated to him, in writing, that they are
not available to support the elections planned
for February 14
Mr. Jega who had an earlier meeting with
political parties also rounded up another
meeting with his 36 resident commissioners now
on what amounted to an INEC position on
whether to postpone or go ahead with the
elections.
Insiders at the meeting said “its pretty much a
done deal at this point that the lections will be
postponed” and many of the attendees said they
were shocked and depressed at what they
characterize as “a clear case of political
blackmail of the state against civil society.”
Jibrin Ibrahim, a leading African election expert
and senior fellow at the Centre for Democracy
and Development, CDD, in Abuja, who was at
the meeting, said Mr. Jega told the meeting that
security operatives from all the agencies told
INEC that they were commencing a six weeks
special operations against Boko Haram
insurgents in the north eastern corridors of the
country and would rather not be distracted by
the elections.
Mr. Jega announced that the security forces also
said the operations are due to commence on
February 14, the date INEC had planned for the
presidential and other federal elections.
This decision, by the security forces, successfully
renders INEC’s hitherto insistence to go ahead