The Independent National Electoral
Commission on Wednesday said
that the ballot papers for this
month’s general elections were
ready.
The spokesman for the INEC’s
National Chairman, Kayode Idowu,
made this known to The PUNCH just
as feelers indicated that in Abuja
that Thursday’s(today) Council of
State meeting might be stormy.
The council, which consists of the
President, the Vice President, all
former Presidents and ex- Heads of
State as well as all state governors,
is expected to deliberate on the
calls for the postponement of the
elections.
Other members of the council are
all former Chief Justices of Nigeria,
the President of the Senate and the
Attorney-General of the Federation.
One of the key responsibilities of
the body is to advise the President
in the exercise of his powers with
respect to INEC, including the
appointments of members of the
commission.
The Presidency is believed to be
favourably disposed to the
postponement of the elections
while the APC insists that the
elections must hold as scheduled.
But while the Presidency and the
APC were busy strategising on
Wednesday evening on how to
have an upper hand, Idowu told
The PUNCH that INEC still stood by
its timetable for the polls.
He said that apart from the ballot
papers being ready, 65.5 per cent of
the Permanent Voter Cards had as
of Monday been distributed to
registered voters across the
country.
He said, “We have distributed
48,098,000 which represents 65.5
per cent of the PVCs . We have also
taken delivery of ballot papers for
the elections.”
Asked to be specific on whether the
elections would be postponed as
being canvassed in some quarters,
he replied, “Has the commission
issued any statement reneging on
its earlier timetable?
“If we have not done that, that
means nothing has changed.”
The PUNCH gathered on Wednesday
night that the commission had
commenced the movement of
materials to states and local
government areas ahead of the
February 14 presidential and
National Assembly elections.
Idowu, had in a statement on
Wednesday, refuted an earlier
report by Reuters, claiming that the
elections might be postponed if
voter cards distribution was too
low.
He said that there was no reason for
anyone to suggest that the
exercise might be shifted because
“the number of PVCs already
collected rates highly in
comparison to the level of voter
turnout historically in Nigerian
elections.”
He explained that a National
Commissioner of INEC, Amina Zakari,
gave a hint that the deadline for
PVC collection might be further
extended.
The statement read, “I write to
refute your story in Reuters
attributing National Commissioner
of INEC, Zakari, as saying that the
2015 general elections may be
delayed if the number of PVCs
collected by voters is too low.
“I was at the Situation Room
Dialogue with INEC in Abuja this
(Wednesday) morning and I know
that the commissioner spoke in
regard to the February 8 deadline
for the collection of PVCs, nothing
about the schedule of the general
elections.
“You said she spoke to you ‘on the
sidelines’ of the event. Well, I have
checked with the commissioner
and she denied that the issue
discussed was the schedule of the
2015 elections.
“You had during the question-and-
answer session at the event asked
about the notably low level of
collection in some states and the
implication for voter turnout, which
the commission had missed out in
her responses.
“Later ‘on the sidelines’ she
explained to you that the number
of PVCs already collected rates
highly in comparison to the level of
voter turnout historically in
Nigerian elections.
“Still, she added, INEC has not
completely foreclosed the
possibility of granting a few days of
extension in isolated cases of low
percentage of collection after
February 8.
“The inference you’ve made for the
schedule of elections is entirely
yours, and misrepresents the
conversation that took place at the
event this(Wednesday) morning.”
Our correspondents however
gathered that former President
Olusegun Obasanjo, the APC
presidential candidate, Maj. Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and all
the APC governors will attend the
Council of State meeting.
Most of the APC governors had not
been attending the meeting since
the disagreement that led to the
factionalisation of the Nigeria
Governors’ Forum.
The last time the council meeting
was held, only Governor Adams
Oshiomhole of Edo State attended.
Two APC governors, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, said that
the party was mobilising ahead of
the meeting.
One of them said, “We know the
importance of the meeting and we
have asked our members to attend
at all costs.
“Apart from that, our presidential
candidate will also be the
attending. We don’t want any
unpopular decision to be taken on
our behalf.”
The other said, “We are not only
going to attend the meeting, but
also have our caucus meeting
before going there. We are
meeting tonight (Wednesday) to
deliberate on issues and take a
common position.
“You know that we (APC governors)
have not been attending the
meeting for long, but this time
round, we would be there.”
The governor added that Obasanjo,
who also has an event to attend in
Abuja on Thursday (today), had
promised that he would be at the
meeting.
“The former President has
promised to attend. We are
expecting him to be on the side of
the democrats and support that the
elections must hold as announced
by the INEC.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the APC
National Chairman, Chief John
Odigie-Oyegun, warned that the
consequences of overheating the
polity on account of the grand
design to postpone the polls
would be difficult to predict.
Odigie-Oyegun said that Nigerians
had become aware of the build-up
to the “dangerous events that are
beginning to unfold in the nation.”
He noted that the National Security
Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd),
was the first to fly the kite by citing
unpreparedness on the part of INEC.
The APC chairman stressed that
Dasuki was not speaking for the
electoral management body
because INEC had told all Nigerians
that it was ready for the elections.
He alleged that as part of the
larger plot by the PDP and the
Presidency, groups had been
sponsored to hold demonstrations
to join the calls for postponement.
Odigie-Oyegun said, “We were
afflicted with organised protests
and a few days ago, we were told
that some parties got together – I
think about 16 of them and decided
that yes, they want the elections
postponed.
“But of course, every serious
Nigerian knows that this election is
between the APC and the PDP
whatever else anybody will think.
There has been a spate of
organised radio programmes
following the same trend. Oh this
election should be postponed;
election that we knew four years
ago is going to happen this year.
“Unfortunately in the process, the
polity is being overheated to such
dangerous levels that the
consequences of which will be
difficult to predict at this stage.”
The party chairman also said the
APC was aware that the Presidency
might attempt to drag members of
the Council of State into its effort to
postpone the elections during
Thursday’s (today) meeting .
Stating that the APC holds
members of the council in high
esteem,” he advised them against
taking part in any project that could
damage the democratic process.
“It will be necessary at this point to
make the point very, clearly that
the Council of State is a purely
advisory body and ought not to be
dragged into trying to provide
justification in any form or shape
for this very unfortunate direction
which the Presidency and the PDP
want to plunge this nation,”
Odigie- Oyegun said.
A top Presidency official told one
of our correspondents that whether
the APC governors attended the
meeting or not, the decision on
whether or not the elections would
be shifted would be based on the
submission of the INEC chairman.
He said, “You may say it (the
meeting) will be stormy. But I will
prefer to say there will be
intrigues.
“There is no problem in Amaechi
and other APC governors attending.
One thing that is sure is that
decision will be made based on the
presentation that will be made by
the INEC chairman.
“If he says the commission needs
more time, decision will be based
on that. Nobody can force them to
go ahead.”
Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa
Ibom State is expected to lead the
PDP governors to the meeting.
Also in Abuja, the PDP Campaign
Organisation has said that only INEC
has the power to shift elections.
It said it was wrong for anyone to
insinuate that the Presidency and
the PDP were interfering in the
work of the commission.
The Director of Media and Publicity
of the organisation, Chief Femi
Fani-Kayode, stated this at a press
briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said, “We wish to state that our
party, the PDP, and our government
under President Jonathan, do not
superintend over electoral
processes and elections in this
country.
“There is an independent election
body in place – the INEC under the
chair of Prof. Attahiru Jega.
“It is within the purview of INEC to
make decisions about the holding
and/or postponement of elections.
It is not within the functions of the
PDP or the Federal Government.”
The former Minister of Aviation said
that the PDP and the campaign
organisation took exception to the
fact that the APC had kept on
making this allegation.
He said, “When they say that the
PDP is controlling INEC they have
become nothing but victims of
their own delusions and they are
obviously suffering from terrible
hallucination.
“INEC is completely independent.
We have called on INEC to ensure
that everybody has the Permanent
Voter Cards.
“We have done that public service;
but as to whether election is to be
postponed or not is INEC’s sole
decision.
“Whichever way, we are very well
prepared for elections. Let it be
clear that the APC leaders and
members are the ones who are
afraid of elections.”
Fani-Kayode said it was also not
true that the PDP was not ready for
the elections and that it was
plotting for an Interim National
Government.
He said that the APC knew it would
not win elections and that this
could be the reason why it was
making the allegations.
He said that Buhari had “attended
35 or thereabouts state rallies and
in all, he has spoken for only 57
minutes.
He added, “The longest time he
spoke in any single rally was for
two minutes and 13 seconds. The
shortest is one minute.
“He has used his so-called speeches
for nothing but political
demagoguery, charging his
supporters with a clenched fist and
spreading hate speech (with his
supporters chanting ‘sai Buhari’)
which is symptomatic of a violent
character.
“It drives home the point that
General Buhari has nothing to say
and if he has anything to say, he
simply does not know how to say it.
That explains why he keeps
running from debates even when
choice platforms are offered.”
He also denied the allegation that
some of those who instituted cases
in court were doing so on behalf of
the PDP and Jonathan.
Some protesters however blocked
the entrance to the INEC
headquarters in Abuja on
Wednesday, demanding that the
elections be shifted by two months.
They alleged marginalisation of the
Southern part of the country in the
distribution of PVCs in favour of
the North.
The protesters, who came under
the aegis of the Coalition of Civil
Societies and Concerned
Nigerians, claimed that the
northern states had received 73
per cent of the PVCs, while the
southern states had received only
46 per cent.
Their coordinator, Amanda Chisom,
said their demand was in line
with section 132, sub-sections 2 of
the Electoral Act.
Chisom, who suggested March or
April for the elections, later told
journalists that they were
received by an official of INEC from
the Legal Department.
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
