BEVERLY HILLS, March 19, (THEWILL) – The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, Thursday, assured that the Commission is on course and ready to conduct the rescheduled general elections fixed for March 28 and April 11.
Jega stated this while briefing accredited election observers for the 2015 general elections at a meeting he held with them in Abuja, saying the Commission had achieved 81 percent PVC Distribution in the last four weeks.
Maintaining that only INEC and its duly authorised personnel are empowered to monitor elections, Jega said “An Observer on the other hand does not have any role in the administration of the election nor any control or oversight functions.”
He however said INEC appreciates the positive roles of both domestic and foreign observers in Nigeria’s electoral process.
“We welcome you to freely observe the 2015 general elections in accordance with existing guidelines and the laws of the land,” he said.
Giving a brief update on INEC’s preparedness for the elections, he said he did not see any indication from any quarters of any wish to further postpone the elections as he disclosed that a National Stakeholders Summit is scheduled for ‘last minute’ briefing preceding the elections on Tuesday, March 24.
He also disclosed that the Commission has made arrangements to enable IDPs to vote, saying this will apply to IDPs from areas that are worst hit by the insurgency, specifically in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States. “The plan is to create voting centres in safe areas,” he said.
According to him, “After the rescheduling of the elections, the Commission met, reviewed the situation and decided on how best to utilise the six-week extension to add value to operational and logistical preparations for the elections.
“We believe that effective utilisation of the period of extension would enable INEC to a vastly improved 2015 general elections. “
He however said as a Commission, “we greatly value our partnership with election stakeholders, particularly election observers,” adding “Your participation in elections often provides us with dispassionate and rich assessments of the electoral process, which add value to our work as a Commission.”
He said INEC has enjoyed very cordial relations with both domestic and international observers since the 2011 general elections.
According to him, “This has been partly shaped by three things. In the first place, we established a transparent procedure for selecting observer groups. Calls for applications and/or the selection criteria are usually published in newspapers and our websites. The criteria are strictly applied and groups are ranked before selection is made.
“Secondly, we developed comprehensive guidelines for election observation. The INEC Guidelines For Election Observation, which is available in both print and on our website, is based on global norms, standards and sources. Among these are the ECOWAS Principles of Democratic Elections, which is established by the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance of 2001, the African Union Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa of 2002 and the Cotonou Agreement signed between the European Union and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States in 2000.
“The guidelines cover such things as processes of selection and accreditation of observers, code of conduct, responsibilities of both observers and INEC, as well as detailed description of the political and electoral processes in Nigeria. These guidelines are the normative basis for INEC’s engagement with foreign and local observers. The existence of these guidelines ensures that all parties recognise that election observation is a cooperative exercise in which all sides have rights and duties, which collectively ensure that the highest democratic standards apply.”
