State of emergency in Bauchi, Kaduna if… – Jonathan

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has said that the rescheduled governorship and state assembly elections in Bauchi and Kaduna states will be held tomorrow, but in the event that they cannot be conducted, government might be forced to consider the imposition of  a state of emergency in the states.

Fielding questions from  journalists on Tuesday, shortly after casting his vote in his hometown, Otuoke, in Bayelsa State, President Jonathan said  there was no reason the election could not go on as scheduled, as there was an arrangement to deploy more security personnel in the two states.

He explained that even though Nigerians had a misconception about state of emergency, its imposition was an extreme measure applicable only as a last resort and suggested that even if it was to be imposed, it might not necessarily lead to the ouster of the state governors.

Jonathan gave reasons there was the talk of a possible declaration of state of emergency in the two states, saying that people were of the belief that the situation had gone very bad and there was stagnation in development which he said was not yet the case.

According to him, “elections will take place on Thursday. Let us observe what will happen today first before the state of emergency.

“State of emergency, sometimes people don’t even understand. I got to know that when you impose a state of emergency, by law, the governor is not supposed to leave. That is what my Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) told me. We will find out.

“But before we declare a state of emergency, there are reasons people are saying there should be state of emergency. You declare a state of emergency in a state, you can also declare a state of emergency in the country based on our constitution. That is when the social circumstances create an environment that governance becomes extremely difficult,” he said.

The president, who cautioned against such a situation that would warrant the declaration of state of emergency explained further: “You want to militarise the whole place, no development and every money goes into security.

“If you declare a state of emergency in any state, invariably, what you are saying is that there is noting like development in that state. You appoint a military administrator and use the money to make sure there is security and that it is not the best.

“There may be two reasons why people are talking about state of emergency. Either because the situation is still so bad or alternatively if by 29th of this month we are unable to conduct election in any state, then by law you can’t conduct any election in any state again until after inauguration because we need 30 days.

“In that case we have no choice but to declare state of emergency.

“But as a president, you cannot just rush to declare state of emergency.

“It should be the last, when everything fails, because this is the state of emergency that is probably for six months or even if it is three months, these are three months of stagnation. We cannot just rush that. That is why we deferred the election for Kaduna and Bauchi till Thursday,” he said.

Jonathan said the government was keenly studying the situation in both states, to see how things unfolded.

Singling out members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for commendation over their conduct as ad hoc staff of the INEC, the president assured them that the government was aware of their plight and was doing everything to remedy the situation.

He said though some of them had paid the supreme price in the service of the country, others had continued to work for their fatherland.

Jonathan thanked Nigerians for their commitment to the sustenance of democracy in the country, especially for the enthusiasm they had shown in the elections.

The president said from the information available to him, the election had gone on well in most parts of the country, while he promised that though the series of the elections in the country had been lauded for their credibility, the 2015 election would be better.

According to him, “I will ensure that we conduct free and fair election. What I promise now is that the 2015 will be better elections because we will improve to make sure that some of the experiences in the presidential election do not happen again.”

He assured that the good conduct of the last elections was only the beginning, saying that Nigeria would get it right and everybody has a role to play in the endeavour.