President Goodluck Jonathan and
the Defence Headquarters have
assured Nigerians that efforts were
being intensified to ensure that the
general elections were held on
March 28 and April 11 as scheduled
by the Independent National
Electoral Commission.
Their assurances came barely 24
hours after INEC Chairman, Attahiru
Jega, said he was not in a position
to guarantee the sanctity of the
new election dates.
Jega, who was at the Senate to
brief members on the electoral
body’s preparedness for the
elections had been asked to state
categorically if the dates were
sacrosanct.
Avoiding being committal, he
replied, “I have said consistently
that there are things under the
control of the electoral commission
and there are things that are not
under the control of the electoral
commission. For things that are
under our control, I can give
definite and categorical
assurances….“There are certain
questions that we are not really
competent to answer. Certain
questions should be directed to the
military, they can answer them
better.’’
But Jonathan, while inaugurating
four naval platforms at the Naval
Dockyard in Lagos on Thursday,
said, “We must conduct our
elections as scheduled by INEC
because within this period, we are
convinced that we will return to a
time when the activities of
extremists will not affect our
elections.”
He added at the ceremony that
was attended by the Chief of Naval
Staff, Vice- Admiral Usman Jibrin;
the Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen.
Kenneth Minimah; the Chief of Air
Staff, Air Vice-Marhsal Adesola
Amosu, and the InspectorGeneral of
Police, Suleiman Abba, that he was
optimistic that the military would
soon end insurgency in the North-
East.
He added, “Let me use this platform
to promise my good countrymen
and women that we will rout Boko
Haram. We are working hard day
and night and I have directed that
Nigerians be briefed regularly.
“The technical capacities of our
men in the air force and army have
been improved and we are pleased
with what is happening. We
commend the Chief of Defence Staff
and all the services for what they
are doing. We also commend other
senior naval officers and ratings for
this event.”
In Abuja, the Director of Defence
Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris
Olukolade, told The PUNCH that the
military was doing everything
possible to ensure that the
elections were not delayed again.
He, however, advised other
stakeholders to work to achieve
the country’s objectives.
“The military will continue to work
frantically towards the nation’s
desire to achieve the peaceful and
conducive atmosphere that will
enable normal socio- economic and
political life including elections to
take place,” Olukolade said in an
SMS.
“Please let all other stakeholders,
including politicians, electoral
officials and the media also work
honestly and conscientiously to
achieve the nation’s objectives.
After all, security, as the saying
goes, is everyone’s business,” he
added.
Before Jonathan and Olukolade
spoke, some Senators said that
going by Jega’s statement, there
was the need for the service chiefs
to be invited by the Senate to
reassure Nigerians that there
would not be further extension of
the elections.
The lawmakers, in separate
interviews in Abuja, said the INEC
chief’s comment had raised
concerns by many Nigerians that
the polls might be shifted again.
The Senators are Aisha Al-Hassan,
Babafemi Ojudu, Babajide
Omoworare; Bukola Saraki and Ita
Enang.
Al-Hassan said, “since Jega said it
was difficult for him to guarantee
the sanctity of the poll dates, the
service chiefs should be invited to
convince Nigerians that the
situation in the North -East would
be controlled before the poll
dates.”
Saraki said, “It is still back to that
issue of security which he has said
he doesn’t have the powers
neither does he have an answer.
Since he said we should direct that
question to the appropriate
quarters, I think that further
emphasises what we were saying.
“The National Assembly still needs
to bring the service chiefs to give
us the assurance.”
On his own part, Enang said, “On the
question of security for the
elections, each person has his own
duty, INEC says it is prepared and if
we have concern about any other
agency, it is for us to interact with
that agency.”
Omoworare and Ojudu said the
best way to avoid tension over
Jega’s position was for the service
chiefs to appear before the senate
and give firm commitments.
Also on Thursday, the Trade Union
Congress and two prominent
lawyers – Femi Falana and Jiti
Ogunye – in separate interviews
with our correspondents, warned
that Nigerians would resist a
further delay of the polls.
The TUC President, Bala Kaigama,
noted that there were court
judgments that barred the military
from polling units.
He said, “The security agencies
requested six weeks, and Nigerians
have decided to tolerate the six
weeks. We hope that after the six
weeks, they will not call for an
extension.
“Nigerians will not tolerate another
extension. Let them work within
the committal they made to INEC.
They should work within the six
weeks they asked for. They should
ensure that after the six weeks, the
elections are held in the country.”
Falana and Ogunye faulted Jega’s
claim that he could not guarantee
the holding of the elections
without security assurance by the
military.
They argued that his position ran
contrary to recent court
judgments barring the
involvement of soldiers in the
conduct of elections in the country.
Falana said, “I wish to state, without
any fear of contradiction, that by
virtue of section 215 of the 1999
Constitution, the maintenance of
internal security, including law and
order during elections, is the
exclusive constitutional
responsibility of the Nigeria Police
Force.
“It was therefore erroneous on the
part of Jega to state that only the
military could guarantee security
during the forthcoming elections.
“Once INEC has discharged its
constitutional duty of fixing
election dates, the onus is on the
Police to provide security and
maintain law and order. Since
election is not a military duty, the
Police Force is at liberty to
collaborate with other law
enforcement agencies like the
Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian
Civil Defence Corps, Nigerian
Prisons Service, etc.”
Falana recalled , “In the last couple
of weeks, in two separate
judgments, both the Federal High
Court and the Court of Appeal ruled
that the armed forces have no role
to play in the management of
elections in Nigeria.”
Ogunye said, “Jega perhaps meant
to say that he and his commission
were ready for the elections on
their part but that INEC does not
have the power over security.
“Jega ought to have been guided
by the previous decisions of our
courts – the Federal High Court in
Sokoto and the appeal panel on the
election petitions on Ekiti State
governorship election – which have
both said the military has no role in
the conduct of elections.
“The police and other civil
authorities are to provide security
during civil exercise like elections.”
Also, the President of Nigerian
Voters Assembly, Mashood Erubami,
who described Jega’s statement as
sensitive, said, “Determination of
our election timetable by the
military under a civilian
administration is unacceptable.”
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
