Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Wednesday told the Nigerian Senate that the commission was fully prepared for the 2015 elections but was forced to consider a shift in the date after the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, sent a letter to the electoral umpire, stating that the military cannot support the elections because of an impending battle with insurgents.
Jega was summoned to explain the election postponement and other sundry issues surrounding the exercise including the use of card readers for the exercise, but he told the senators that Dasuki and the service chiefs caused the shift in the date of the elections.
Jega had announced the postponement of the elections days ago and explained that the service chiefs and the NSA had told the commission that they needed six weeks to confront the Boko Haram and as such would not be available to assist the commission with security.
Jega explained that against the position of some senators, the use of card readers did not negate the Electoral Laws, adding that the card reader machines can work for 12 hours on battery and that this had been tested in 13 states.
Using the PVC of Senator Bukura Yerima, Jega tested the use of the PVC with the card reader machines and explained that the six weeks period given for the shift in the date of the election would further give INEC the opportunity to prepare for free and fair elections.
Many of the senators expressed satisfaction with the way the card reader worked.
Immediately the PVC was slotted into it, the machine displayed the Senator’s bio data on its screen.
Explaining that the card reader machines had been programmed to enable accreditation to take place between 10 to 30 seconds, he stressed that the commission introduced it to prevent electoral fraud during the exercise.
Jega, who said INEC had discovered that over four million Nigerians engaged in multiple registration, also told the senators that a further postponement of the election was against the Electoral Act and thus would be unconstitutional.
As part of the commission’s readiness, Jega said the commission would make use of about 100,000 ad-hoc staff for the general elections on 28th March and 11th April.
