2015: Insurgency could stop election in Adamawa, Borno, Yobe – INEC

Commission’s chairman Professor Attahiru Jega said this at a one-day stakeholders meeting organised by the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, Abuja and the United Kingdom Department for International Development. Jega said: “The situation under a state of emergency is that you cannot do a free and fair […]

Commission’s chairman Professor Attahiru Jega said this at a one-day stakeholders meeting organised by the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, Abuja and the United Kingdom Department for International Development.
 Jega said: “The situation under a state of emergency is that you cannot do a free and fair election. Ideally, you cannot conduct election under a period of emergency.
“It is my hope that the challenges in the North East will be resolved before 2015. If the security is such that we cannot do election, then we may need to fall back on the law to suspend it or postpone it.”
The emergency rule was declared in the three states in May this years by President Goodluck Jonathan and it was extended by another six months in November.
He said INEC is considering holding the 2015 elections between January and February and that it will need about N93 billion ($514.5 million) to enable it conduct the elections.
Professor Jega revealed that Nigeria spent about $8 (N1,280) per voter in the 2011 which he described as normal and globally acceptable since, according to him, Ghana in its last election spent between $10-12 per a voter while Kenya spent between $8-9.
He said funding was one of the major challenges facing the commission as it prepares for the 2015 elections. “In preparing for the forthcoming elections, one guiding principle for the commission has been to make elections more cost-effective and to give Nigerians better value for money.
“Our estimate is that the cost of election per voter, which is an international standard for viewing the cost of elections is coming down in Nigeria. We project that for the 2015 elections, this would come further down by almost $1, from $8.8 in 2011 to $7.9, representing almost a 10% drop. This compares favourably with some other African countries.
“However, we are anxious about getting all our funding requirements being met well in advance of the 2015 general elections,” he said.
The INEC chairman said that the attitude of politicians was another problem giving the commission headache as there was widespread absence of moderation among politicians.
He said Nigerians have a bad political culture which is characterised by violence.
 “Pre-election violence has led to the death of many politicians, their supporters and innocent citizens. Widespread intimidation of voters persists and organised thugs spread fear across communities in the build up to elections.
“In any case, elections in Nigeria are a winner-takes-all affair, while the loser loses everything akin to payment of reparations by an enemy defeated in a war. In fact, election security has become a lasting issue facing the management of elections in Nigeria,” he said.
He said: “Several security threats now characterise the electoral process. These include physical attacks on INEC staff and facilities, attacks on security personnel on election duty, misuse of security orderlies by politicians, attacks on political opponents and cyber attacks targeting INEC’s databases, especially the register of voters and violence at campaigns.”