The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reaffirmed its commitment and focus towards delivering free, fair and credible elections scheduled for March 28 and April 11 2015.
It said since the re-scheduling of the elections, it had not rested on its oars, but had taken advantage of the period of extension to perfect its processes, and to ensure that it added value to the electoral process.
National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Dr. Chris Iyimoga, expressed the Commission’s readiness for the 2015 polls while briefing members of the INEC Press Corps at the Commission’s Headquarters yesterday.
Iyimoga explained that even though at the time of the re-scheduling of the 2015 General Elections on the 7th of February, the Commission was in a comfortable position to conduct the elections, he pointed out that INEC had further made remarkable improvements in its preparation for the elections.
He said the Commission had distributed 55,232,874 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) representing 80.24 percent of 68,833476 registered voters, surpassing the 80 percent threshold of the collection of the PVCs nationwide.
He explained that: “even though the Commission had satisfactorily tested the Smart Card Readers (SCRs) before the re-scheduling of the elections, it is to further conduct more rigorous field testing of the functionality of the SCRs which will be deployed for accreditation of voters on Election Day. Two states from each of the six geopolitical zones of the federation will be involved in the field testing which will take place simultaneously on Saturday, 7th March 2015”.
The states selected for the exercise are: Ekiti and Lagos, (South West); Anambra and Ebonyi, (South East); Delta and Rivers, (South South); Kano and Kebbi, (North West); Bauchi and Taraba, (North East); Niger and Nasarawa, (North Central).
The National Commissioner also informed the journalists that as at Tuesday, 12th February the Commission had received ballot papers meant for all the elections and taken them to the states.
“They are securely locked at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) vaults across the states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), awaiting further distribution at the eve of each of the elections. We have also received and distributed all ballot boxes meant for the elections,” Iyimoga said.
The National Commissioner allayed concerns over alleged rumours of clamour for the removal of the INEC boss, Prof Attahiru Jega, assuring Nigerians that the Commission remained focused and would not be distracted from delivering on its mandate of free, fair and credible elections.
“The clamour for the removal of Jega is not a distraction because INEC remains focused to deliver the best elections.”
