Polls in Borno, others: INEC to rely on security reports

He said INEC is presently preparing to conduct elections in all parts of Nigeria, even as the commission is aware that some states have been under state of emergency.He stated this while playing host to a delegation from the Netherlands led by the Director, Sub-saharan African department Michael Stubbe and the country’s ambassador to Nigeria […]

He said INEC is presently preparing to conduct elections in all parts of Nigeria, even as the commission is aware that some states have been under state of emergency.
He stated this while playing host to a delegation from the Netherlands led by the Director, Sub-saharan African department Michael Stubbe and the country’s ambassador to Nigeria John Groffen at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Stubbe had inquired the level of INEC’s preparedness ahead of the 2015 general elections given the security situation in some parts of the country.
Jega said the INEC has been according the issue of security a serious consideration, even as he assured of an improved security arrangement in 2015 better than that of the 2011 elections.
“We are aware that those (security) issues are not in our hands, yet we have to rely on security agencies’ advice and expertise for us to be able to go ahead with the elections in the states (under emergency).”
He lamented the financial constraints of the commission which according to him has limited its ability to disseminate information to voters leading to inadequate voter education.
He listed the challenges of the commission’s preparedness for the 2015 polls to include voter education, public enlightenment as well as the logistics.
Jega insisted said the timetable that has been made public was based purely on the consideration of the commission and not to favour certain interests.
He added that the timetable sequence was the same with that of 2011, despite compressing the previous three elections days into two days in the upcoming election.