INEC assures of polls in February

The parties, under the umbrella body of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) said the electoral body must educate Nigerians on the day-to-day distribution of the cards to demonstrate readiness for the polls.Chairman of the council, Yunusa Tanko, said during the political parties’ meeting with INEC in Abuja that to ensure the smooth conduct of the elections, […]

The parties, under the umbrella body of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) said the electoral body must educate Nigerians on the day-to-day distribution of the cards to demonstrate readiness for the polls.
Chairman of the council, Yunusa Tanko, said during the political parties’ meeting with INEC in Abuja that to ensure the smooth conduct of the elections, the federal government needs to declare a public holiday for collections of the cards.
The meeting came after the call by National Security Advisor, Sambo Dasuki, for the postponement of the polls to address the challenges posed by the  distribution of voters’ cards.
“The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) condemned in strong terms the level of violence and lack of accommodation being shown by some members of political parties in campaigns so far. It is our strong view that every political party has the right to campaign in any part of the country without fear of intimidation.
“We also want to make it clear that INEC has continuously assured the political parties of its readiness to conduct the election on February 14,” he said.
Tanko added the political parties condemned the violence that characterised the ongoing campaigns in some parts of the country, stressing that a committee had been set up to monitor such campaign issues vis-avis the code of conduct agreed upon by the parties.
INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, said Nigerians need to be patient with the PVCs distribution challenge, as INEC had remained committed to conducting better elections than those of 2011.
“We believe that even though there have seen challenges, some of which are already being talked in the media such as the challenges in the distribution of permanent voter’s cards, we feel confident that with the measures and mechanisms we have in place, we can overcome them well in advance to the conduct of the elections”, he said, adding that the cards would improve the integrity of the electoral process, as it would minimise if not totally eliminate some of the most persistent fraudulent activities that arise in the electoral process.
 An APC official who attended the meeting told Daily Trust on condition of anonymity: “The issue of election postponement came up. What happened was that APC, INEC and about five or six other political parties were on the same page, which is that elections must hold as scheduled, while the PDP and some smaller parties that were cajoled, enticed or even pushed by the ruling party said the elections should be postponed based on some whimsical and weak arguments.
“So, since we have uncovered their plan, we said point-blank that the elections must hold on February 14 and INEC said although its chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, had not made a formal address on the issue, had insisted that it is not willing to shift the elections because it had concluded preparations and is ready.
“The other smaller parties that are with the PDP argued that the elections should be postponed. However the electoral commission said they had taken their position and would proceed with the elections as scheduled”, he added.