The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Attahiru Jega, said the electoral body has not been formerly notified of the impeachment of Murtala Nyako as Governor of Adamawa.
Mr. Jega stated this while answering questions from newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said that the commission had not met to decide on the conduct of gubernatorial election in the state since it had not been served any notice of vacancy in Adamawa Government House.
“The law is clear on that but as at Wednesday morning, INEC has not been formally notified of the impeachment.
“The law provides for three months to hold election while the Speaker of the House of Assembly takes over within the period in case of where the Deputy Governor cannot act.
“We are law abiding and we will operate within the law if officially notified”, Mr. Jega said.
The chairman said that if election was conducted in the state, the winner would only complete Mr. Nyako’s tenure while another election would be held during the 2015 general elections.
Commenting on the possibility of conducting election on the three states under emergency rule, Mr. Jega said INEC was prepared to conduct election in every state of the federation come 2015.
“We are doing our best to prepare adequately to conduct election in every state in this country.
“We have never said that election will not be conducted in these three states.
“We will cross the road when we get there. It is too early to speculate on where election will hold or not hold”, he said.
Reacting to allegation that the June 21 election in Ekiti election was militarised, Mr. Jega said it was wrong for anybody to say that.
He added that the presence of military men in the state did not disenfranchise voters but secured them.
“Obviously, there should be minimum participation of security personnel in election as obtainable in some countries, but in Nigeria we all know the security challenge and the electoral law required the presence of security personnel”, he said.
On the participation of the military in the forthcoming Aug. 9 governorship poll in Osun, Mr. Jega said the military was a recognised institution for the protection of the country.
“I want the security agencies to do everything possible to secure the electoral process in Osun state and in every state of the federation.
“I also want them to protect electoral officers and election materials and ensure that the voting environment is peaceful to encourage people to vote”, he said.
The theme of the dialogue was: Experience: Sharing Dialogue with Media Professionals.
(NAN)
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