How military chiefs got INEC to postpone polls



The inability of military authori­ties to assure the Independent Na­tional Electoral Com­mission, (INEC) of a se­cured atmosphere for the conduct of the gen­eral elections, may have forced the com­mission to yield to the pressure of shifting the dates of the elections by six weeks.

Although INEC was re­ported to have given other reasons for the shift in the dates of the elections which were initially scheduled for 14th and 28th of this month, TheCable insists that the threats by the security chief that the nation’s military au­thorities could not guaran­tee security for the conduct of the polls necessitated the decision for the postpone­ment
Senior military chiefs were reported to have said at the meeting of the National Council of State last Thurs­day that Nigeria’s security agencies were overstretched because of the scaling-up of the war against Boko Haram involving the coun­try and neighbouring Af­rican countries. The shift was a sudden volte-face by the electoral umpire which had earlier insisted that the exercise would go on as scheduled despite concerns over the commis­sion’s level of preparedness as many feared that a lot of qualified Nigerians could be disenfranchised following INEC’s failure to complete the distribution of PVCs.
An INEC official was quoted to have informed TheCable that Professor Attaihiru Jega was caught in a dilemma when he was informed about the mili­tary’s plan to back out of the whole exercise should INEC fail to extend the dates of the polls by at least six weeks to allow the oper­ations against Boko Haram to be concluded. “They told him that it is in the national interest and INEC’s inter­est to hold elections in all the states of the federation, which can only be done if the Boko Haram insurgents are completely incapaci­tated in those states,” the source said.
Indication that the elec­tions could be shifted for­ward emerged few weeks ago when the National Se­curity Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) disclosed in London that he had advised INEC to postpone the polls because of the concerns over PVC distribution.

How military chiefs got INEC to postpone polls How military chiefs got INEC to postpone polls Reviewed by Unknown on Sunday, February 08, 2015 Rating: 5

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