Members of the Council of State were on Thursday divided
over the desirability of the general elections taking place
on February 14 and 28 as scheduled by the Independent
National Electoral Commission.
The disagreement which characterised the seven-hour
meeting again played out during a news conference
addressed by Governors Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo); Rochas
Okorocha (Imo); and Bala Ngilari (Adamawa).
Mimiko told State House correspondents that based on the
presentation made to the council by the INEC Chairman,
Attahiru Jega, and the contributions of council members,
the electoral body was advised to communicate its position
to the nation.
He said, “ The council , in its meeting, which was close to
seven hours, essentially discussed the state of
preparedness of INEC for the elections.
“INEC had the benefit of input from council members and
security chiefs and relevant agencies.
“Based on the very exhaustive discussion and pieces of
advice, INEC is constitutionally empowered with the basis
of discussions, to brief the nation and then the news will be
communicated to you.”
When asked to be specific on whether the elections would
be held as scheduled or would be shifted, Mimiko said, “Like
I made it absolutely clear, I am not the INEC chief. INEC will
appropriately brief you based on the meeting we just had.
“INEC is going to consult widely with stakeholders and
come up with a decision that they will brief the nation on it
soon.
“The council is essentially an advisory body. Mr. President,
in his wisdom, invited INEC to brief us on its state of
preparedness.
“Based on what INEC said and based on the perception of
council members and security agencies, INEC was properly
advised and you will hear from INEC.”
Immediately after he spoke, Mimiko, Ngilari and President
Goodluck Jonathan’s spokesman, Reuben Abati, rose and
made their ways out of the venue of the briefing.
Apparently not satisfied with the information released by
the Ondo State Governor, Okorocha beckoned on them to
come back, saying the briefing was one-sided.
Mimiko, Ngilari and Abati reluctantly returned to their seats
to listen to him.
Okorocha said after extensive deliberation, INEC was
advised to go ahead and perform its constitutional
responsibility which is to conduct elections.
He said, “The council advised INEC to go and perform its
civic responsibility which is to conduct elections.
“That is what we rose to agree; it was a very challenging
moment and INEC has reaffirmed many times that it was
ready for the elections.
“Because of concerns of security agencies in some few
local governments, the council asked INEC to go and
perform its civic responsibilities, which is the conduct of
elections.”
Asked specifically if there was a decision regarding change
of date for the polls, Okorocha said, “There is no decision
as to the change of dates or postponement at all. But the
council has asked INEC to go and perform its
responsibility.”
When asked if APC expected the elections to hold on the
scheduled dates, he replied, “That is what we are expecting
definitely.”
When confronted with the fact that it appeared that the PDP
and All Progressives Congress governors were not on the
same page on the matter going by the discord at the news
conference, the governor said, “As usual, we will not be on
the same page on any issues of this nature.
“It is normal that some will be for and others will be against,
but the truth is that we looked at the Constitution of Nigeria,
that is the only binding factor when there are issues of
disagreement.
“The Constitution guides every one because that is the
fundamental law that guides the whole nation’s policies.”
On the use of Permanent Voter Cards during the elections,
Okorocha said, “The temporary voters cards are being
exchanged for the new ones and once you have given out
your temporary voter card, that means you don’t have
anymore.
“So they are going for the PVCs and the PVCs would be
assumed to have been distributed before Sunday; that was
the essence of the whole exercise and Jega has reassured
us that they are equal to the task.
“In fact, they are more prepared than they were in 2011.”
He added that the issue of Jega’s alleged resignation was
not discussed at the meeting.
Immediately Okorocha finished his speech, Mimiko who
was obviously not comfortable with his colleague’s
submission, offered to make further clarification.
He said the meeting reviewed the challenges in the
distribution of the PVCs, card readers and security
challenges.
The governor added, “For any avoidance of doubt, like I
said, INEC had the benefit of inputs and perspectives from
council members.
“Issues of distribution of PVCs, card readers, the extent of
piloting to ensure that people are familiar with this, security
issues, all of these were discussed.
“Issues of the fact that seven days to election, 34 per cent
of Nigerians have yet to get PVCs.
“It was a major issue that was discussed – issue of
preparedness of security to conduct elections nationwide,
issue of the card readers which is a new technology.
“All of these were discussed but ultimately, council being
an advisory body, asked INEC to take advantage of the
different perspectives of the members to take decision
about the election.”
The Progressives Governors Forum, the umbrella body of
the APC governors, later issued a statement in which it said
that the “council reviewed INEC’s report and the
presentation by the NSA on the state of preparedness for
the general elections.”
It said in a five-paragraph statement by Okorocha that Jega
“ assured the council that INEC is ready to proceed with the
elections as scheduled.”
Jega is however expected to meet on Friday (today) with
the national commissioners and the Resident Electoral
Commissioners on Saturday over the outcome Council of
State meeting.
After the departure of all the APC governors, the President
engaged PDP governors in a brief meeting at the new
banquet hall.
The issues discussed and the outcomes of the short
meeting had yet to be made public as of 8.30pm on
Thursday.
The presidential candidate of the APC, Muhammadu Buhari,
was one of the nation’s former leaders that attended the
meeting which started at about 11:30am.
Others included former President Shehu Shagari; former
Heads of State – Yakubu Gowon and Abdusalami Abubakar
– and the Head of Interim National Government, Ernest
Shonekan.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was the only former
Nigerian leader absent from the meeting presided over by
Jonathan.
Vice President Namadi Sambo, the President of the Senate,
David Mark; the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu
Tambuwal; the Attorney-General of the Federation,
Mohammed Adoke; the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; and the National Security
Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, also attended the meeting.
A mild drama however played out before the
commencement of the meeting when Buhari did not join
other former leaders in the President’s office.
The tradition is that the former leaders would converge and
join the President to arrive at the Council Chamber venue of
the meeting together.
But Buhari, on arrival, went straight to the Council Chamber.
It took the intervention of Anyim and some other top
government officials for him to be prevailed upon to join his
colleagues.
At the close of the meeting, Buhari also refused to leave the
venue with his colleagues.
He left through a different door.
Before the meeting, 10 registered political parties had
earlier insisted that the elections must hold.
They said that the calls by some people, groups and 16
other parties for the postponement of the polls were the
handiwork of the PDP.
The 10 parties, under the aegis of the Progressives Political
Parties, said in a joint statement signed by their leaders in
Abuja that shifting the polls would plunge the country into
chaos.
The statement read, “We the undersigned, on behalf of our
political parties, are shocked at the conduct of some of our
colleagues who have joined the infamous campaign to
scuttle Nigeria’s hard-earned democracy by calling for the
postponement of the general election barely a week before
the election is to commence.
“We condemn, in the strongest terms possible, this
underhand and undemocratic tactic meant to plunge our
country into anarchy, on top of the debilitating state of
insecurity which has become pervasive in the land.
“The call for the postponement of the general election has
nothing to do with the preparedness of Independent
National Electoral Commission to conduct the election or
the pace of distribution and collection of Permanent Voter
Cards.
“INEC, the authority empowered by law to fix the date of the
election had said, countless times, it is ready and prepared
to conduct a free, fair and credible election on February 14
and 28 .
“As a matter of fact, Jega and his colleagues in the
commission had stated time and time again, that they had
four years to prepare for the election and they will deliver
better election this time round.”
But before the statement was made public, some politicians
in Yobe State vowed to lead a protest against the
postponement of the elections. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL AND TOUCHING NIGERIAN CELEBRITIES BIOGRAPHY AND SCANDALS
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