C’Wealth asks INEC to win Nigerians’ confidence in polls

[TGD]

Commonwealth Observer Group, some state governors, and political parties, have asked Prof. Attahiru Jega to build Nigerians' confidence in the electoral process.

They however described the call for the removal of the INEC boss as premature, arguing that doing so at this time could complicate the already fragile situation.

Commenting on the botched federal legislature's polls, Head of Commonwealth Observer Group and former Mozambican President Festus Mogae, said the decision to postpone the elections "does not reflect positively on INEC's state of preparedness."

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) says although it is not surprised at the calls from certain quarters on Jega to resign or be sacked over the incident, the INEC boss' exit at this time, will have more negative effects on the electoral process and put Nigeria's democracy in jeopardy.

Also, Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko of Sokoto State has described the rescheduling of the elections, as being in the interest of the country and Nigerians while his Bauchi State counterpart Isa Yuguda says Nigerians should not crucify Jega over the shift in the dates of the general elections.

Yuguda said rather than criticise the INEC boss over the development, the electorate should support him to conduct credible elections under the new plan.

Jega had on Sunday announced the rescheduling of the National Assembly's polls for April 9; presidential election, April 16 while the governorship and states' Houses of Assembly exercise holds on Tuesday, April 26. 2011.

While conceding that INEC has the prerogative "to make changes to the electoral timetable," Mogae said: "We believe, nevertheless, that such repeated and last minute changes are regrettable and do not reflect positively on the state of preparedness of INEC."

According to him, "what is important, however, is that the elections will take place as rescheduled, that they are free, fair and credible, and that peace and tranquility are maintained."

Mogae in a statement, urged all stakeholders to conduct themselves responsibly for Nigerians to retain faith in the democratic process.

The ACN in a statement issued in Ilorin, Kwara State yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said while it was shocked at the poor preparations by INEC for the 2011 general elections, as reflected in Saturday's setback, it believes that the one-week postponement should give the commission enough time to address the problems identified during the ill-fated polls and still give Nigerians free, fair and credible elections.

''We do not believe that any excuse can justify the embarrassment to which the nation was subjected to on Saturday. In fact, we were among the first to condemn the failure and also reject the move to hold the National Assembly election yesterday.   However, we align with those who said it requires a lot of courage on the part of Prof. Jega to stop the process when it became obvious things were not going well, and to also personally take responsibility for the failure. That is rare in these climes.

"In fact, we will like to note that if what happened on Saturday had occurred under Prof. Maurice Iwu, the election would

have continued and the results would have been collated and announced, with or without result sheets.

"Therefore, unfortunate and inexcusable as the failure of last Saturday's National Assembly election may be, it does not translate to calls on Prof. Jega to resign or be sacked. Some of those instigating the calls are not even doing so for patriotic reasons.

"We have it on good authority that die-hard election riggers are not comfortable with Jega as INEC chairman, since they see him as a stumbling block to their fraudulent plans, hence would not mind getting rid of him by all means.

''We also know that massive pressure is being mounted on INEC to jettison the Modified Open Ballot system and replace it with the Secret Ballot system which some unscrupulous parties see as a better system for them to perpetrate their rigging plans. We say no to this, and warn that any attempt to get rid of Jega and replace him with a pliable INEC chairman will be resisted,'' ACN said.

The party however challenged Prof. Jega to rise up to the occasion and work hard to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians for a successful election.

In particular, it said, the INEC Chairman must provide answers to the following posers in order to engender more confidence in his commission's ability to recover from Saturday's false start and give Nigeria a credible election:

• How will INEC rectify the problems of multiple symbols, like those of AC and the ACN appearing side by side on the same ballot? What about parties whose symbols were not even on the ballot?

• Has INEC been able to fully retrieve the ballot papers sent out on Saturday for the National Assembly elections? Can INEC assure Nigerians that the ballots have neither fallen into wrong hands nor been printed by unscrupulous politicians? and

• Will INEC use the same ballot as the one deployed for Saturday's ill-fated poll? If so, how does INEC rectify a situation in which, some of those ballots have found their way into some government houses, as being alleged in certain quarters?

Wammako in a statement by his Special Assistant on Presss Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Dan Gusau, said the action by INEC was to ensure that all avoidable mistakes were eliminated.           .

He appealed for Nigerians' understanding and charged all eligible voters to come out en-masse and perform their civic responsibility on the new dates for the polls.

The governor also urged the people to be orderly in order to uphold enviable record of Sokoto as the most peaceful state in the country.

Similarly in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs, Yuguda called on Nigerians to accept the new dates announced by INEC, saying the step was taken to restore confidence in the electorate for free and fair elections.

He said: "INEC was faced with some teething problems that forced it to readjust the dates to enable it strategise and conduct the elections to the satisfaction and conviction of everyone including the international community."

Yuguda said the postponement would helped debunk the rumours that some contestants had perfected plans to rig the election and be reassured of a credible polls.

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) yesterday, has also urged Nigerians not to be discouraged over the postponed National Assembly's election but to continue to demonstrate this uncommon patience, interest and understanding and still come out en-masse to vote for candidates of their choice in the forthcoming elections.

The Agency's Chief Press Secretary, Fidel Agu, who commended Nigerians for their "commitment and faith in our democracy as exemplified by their large turn-out during last Saturday's botched polls, expressed regrets over the unfortunate circumstances leading to the postponement of the polls.

He said the decision by INEC to postpone the elections, though painful and disappointing, was done in good faith and to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.

Meanwhile, voting materials were said to have arrived in Kano yesterday from Belgium. Jega, who confirmed the arrival of the materials, said the presidential election materials are to arrive on Thursday.

Source: C'Wealth asks INEC to win Nigerians' confidence in polls