Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ruled out his resignation ahead of the March 28 Presidential election, saying it is like dropping the baton midway in a race.
The head of Nigeria’s electoral commission said on Monday that he would not resign, rejecting calls from some supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan for him to stand down before a March 28 election.
He spoke at a Town Hall meeting in Abuja organised by Reinvent Media in conjunction with Ford Foundation and Kukah Centre.
The INEC boss dismissed rumour that he was under pressure to resign from office before the general elections.
Also on the use of the military for elections, which the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is opposed to, the INEC boss is not bulging.
He insists that it is constitutional and that they would be deployed essentially to ensure peace and order during the elections.
He categorically stated that the use of military personnel in elections is defined in the constitution where they are expected to maintain law and order.
Jega also maintained also that the use of card reader remains the best option for the forthcoming general elections in the country, stressing that no cloned card reader will be used.
The INEC roundly rejected the notion of him proceeding on terminal leave. “Terminal leave is an option, a grace period given to anyone to go on leave before he finally leaves office. For me, terminal leave is not an option. Nobody has asked me to proceed on terminal leave other than what I read in the newspapers, ” he said.
“It would be unfair for me to say that I will resign when I have a job to do. I remain focused.”
According to him, the call for his resignation was politically motivated by some politicians and a lot of things being said were diversionary.
The INEC chairman expressed satisfaction with the security situation in the North East ahead of the election. “We are very much satisfied on the security situation,” he said. The INEC chairman, who stated that it is expected that there would be three police personnel at every polling station, said “no armed policeman is allowed within the polling units. Armed policemen are allowed only 300 meters from the polling units. “The military personnel are allowed as defined in the constitution where they are expected to maintain their constitutional duties.
“The armed personnel are allowed to ensure that there are maintenance of law and order and avoid the breakdown of law and order. “We never have had military men within the polling units. The military is only invited by the Inspector General of Police.”
Jega said the non-registration of Young Democratic Party will not affect the conduct of the general elections.
“We are doing everything possible to make sure that everyone gets their PVCs,” he said.The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has criticised Attahiru Jega’s handling of the electoral process and some accuse him of bias towards the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, charges he denies.
Some of Jonathan’s supporters have posted advertisements in newspapers accusing Jega of “plunging the nation into crisis”, by failing to produce and distribute voter ID cards on time. All the adverts also urged people to vote for Jonathan.
Jega announced a six week delay in the election last month – it was originally supposed to happen on Feb. 14 – saying he had been told by the military that it needed more time to retake territory controlled by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
The opposition condemned the delay, which was widely viewed as INEC yielding to pressure from the PDP.
“Yes there have been all sorts of demands for either my resignation or my removal and even now some demonstrations for that, as far as I’m concerned I have a job to do and I remain focused to do it,” Jega said.
Jega said 67 million out of 68.8 million permanent voter cards (PVCs) had so far been produced, with 56 million collected, and that all would be finished and distributed by the election day.
“We are doing everything possible to make sure that everyone gets their PVCs,” he said.
