INEC flops, shifts poll till Monday as Jega begs Nigerians

 The Independent National Electoral Commission yesterday began the conduct of the much awaited general elections on a wobbly note with a sudden postponement of the National Assembly Elections till Monday.

The first strand of the general elections was expected to begin with the National Assembly poll on Saturday but INEC was overwhelmed by logistic problems.

The flop however left many voters disappointed with an emotional INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega repeatedly apologizing to Nigerians for the lapse.

Jega said he has taken full responsibility for the problems which accounted for the poll shift.

At a briefing at INEC headquarters on the postponement of the poll, Jega admitted that one of the vendors disappointed the commission with late arrival of result sheets and ballot papers for Senatorial election in the North-Central and the North-Eastern parts of the country.

Based on assurances from the vendor, he said the commission had anticipated the arrival of the ballot papers and result sheets by 5.30pm on Friday but the sensitive items did not get to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos till 9am on Saturday.

He said instead of haphazard conduct of the National Assembly elections nationwide, INEC decided to suspend the poll till Monday.

Jega said: “Unfortunately, we have been disappointed by a vendor. A vendor was supposed to deliver these materials latest by Thursday, late afternoon and we were confident, based on the assurances that we had that once these materials are delivered, we had sufficient time between then to be able to deliver to the field.

“Now, obviously they did not deliver on Thursday and they gave us excuses. There is a problem in Japan and many Boeing 747 planes were being diverted for delivery of relief materials to Qatar, Japan and Libya. They claimed that that affected some of the agreements they had for transportation. They now assured us that the materials would arrive by 5. 30pm on Friday.

“With the assurances they gave us, we felt that as honourable men, that would stand. We were fully mobilized; we got the Air Force to place over ten aircraft on the tarmac even I speak with you.

“The Air Force personnel were waiting and ready so that when the materials arrive, they can be distributed to polling units. We were so confident that it will arrive by 5. 30pm “Unfortunately, again, they did not arrive by 5. 30pm. We were then told that it would be 2am but eventually, it only arrived Lagos at 9 am this morning (Saturday) and you can see that even though the Air Force planes are there to distribute these, there is no way that all of theses materials could have been distributed before the closure of the accreditation exercise. Really, that is the situation that we confronted.

“We have done our best; we have tried everything possible. We have been disappointed. Nobody likes it. We apologise to Nigerians for what has happened. I take responsibility for it because it is a major lapse. But there was nothing that we could have done to prevent this from happening.”

Pressed to be more forthcoming, the INEC chairman assured that the poll will begin smoothly on Monday.

He added: “However, the materials are now in the country; as I speak with you, they are now being taken to the states. As I said, some have already arrived in the states and we believe that we now have sufficient time between now and Monday morning, to be able to ensure that everything is deployed in the field for the elections to take place.

As I speak with you, all the materials are in the country. Some have reached the states. Some are already being distributed to the states, it is just that there is no sufficient time for them to reach the polling units before accreditation ended and the process of voting commence.

“So, we believe that between now and the end of the day tomorrow, we will ensure that all the materials have reached the polling units so that by Monday, April 4, we will be able to conduct this election with all materials in the field and without problems.”

But he could not make any commitment on whether Monday will be declared a public holiday or not.

Jega said: “Will Monday be declared a public holiday? I believe that as you are all aware, there is normally restriction of movements on election days; I believe that this will be put in place.

“I do not know whether a public holiday will be declared but if there is such need, it would amount to that I will allow the authorities to speak more appropriately on this matter. It may not be a holiday but a work-free day.

 On the actual number of states without result sheets, Jega said almost all the 36 states were affected.

He added: “With regards to the number of states that do not have the result sheets, it is virtually every state except the ones that I have mentioned. Even in these states, there are a few areas where the result sheets have not arrived.

“In the distribution, what we did which is unfortunately the case, is that we ensure that all the vendors also supply to all the states. It was to avoid a situation in which materials would arrive in a particular area and it would not arrive in another area.

 “Because of that and unfortunately because this has now happened, that is why substantial majority of the states are also affected by the failure of one vendor. Obviously, the materials also   included first of all, it covers all of the North Central and North East geo-political zones.

“Senatorial ballot papers for these zones were also supposed to be delivered by the same vendor and they were in the same aircraft that came late. Some of the states are also affected by the non-delivery of the senatorial ballot papers.

“If that was the only thing, we would have isolated senatorial elections and proceeded with the House of Representatives’ elections. We cannot do that because there were no result sheets.

“That is why I said that the fundamental problem is the very late arrival of result sheets. We consider it to be a terrible and unfortunate emergency and unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do about it. I apologise and take responsibility for that.

On the fate of those who have voted in some states, Jega said voting had not commenced in most states.

He said: “Yes, it is true that the process of election had commenced in most polling units across the country but remember, there is a process of accreditation before the queuing up for election. Once this decision was taken, it had been appropriately communicated to all our Resident Electoral Commissioners even before the formal announcement.

“Therefore, there is nowhere in this country where voting has commenced. So, the stoppage of the exercise really has not affected the commencement of voting.”

 Asked by a journalist from the United Kingdom if Nigeria is incapable from conducting elections, Jega said: “Far from it! What we are doing now is, in spite of the challenges, difficulties and the weighty nature of the statement that we had to make, we are saying that if we want free, fair and credible elections then there are certain things that are unacceptable.

“We cannot proceed with these elections now if we want them to be free, fair and credible when there are no result sheets. Really, what we are doing is to ensure that the commitment to free fair and credible elections is really satisfied. That is why we are doing this.

“We cannot bury our heads and say that there are no problems or ask people to continue with the electoral process when we know that results will not be properly tabulated on properly created and secured sheets.

“It is regrettable; it is unfortunate, it should not have happened. Under normal circumstances, these kinds of things do not happen. It is terribly unfortunate that it has happened but what can we do? Man proposes God disposes.

“We have done our best under the circumstances. That does not mean that we are excusing ourselves from blames or responsibility. We take blame, we take responsibility; it comes with the job.

“The most serious problem is the absence of result sheets. Virtually every state in the country is affected; in fact, there is only one state that did not have problem with delivery of result sheets. Obviously, every state, including the Federal Capital Territory is also affected. I apologise to you and to Nigerians.”

Earlier in a broadcast to the nation, Jega apologized for the lapse which led to the shift of the poll.

He said: “Since this Commission started work in July 2010, I have repeatedly promised Nigerians that in carrying out our duties we shall always be sincere and truthful with Nigerians.

“I have always said that this INEC will be upfront with Nigerians, telling you exactly how things are – sharing both our successes and difficulties with you. This is one such occasion. Indeed, it is an emergency.

“As you know the National Assembly (House of Representatives and Senate) elections are supposed to be taking place as I speak. You would also have noticed that things have not proceeded smoothly as expected with the elections.

“The reason for this is the unanticipated emergency we have experienced with late arrival of result sheets in many parts of the country. The result sheets are central to the elections and their integrity.

“Accordingly, in many places, our officials have not reported at the polling units, making it now difficult to implement the Modified Open Ballot Procedure that we have adopted. Not only do we have to enter the results in the sheets, the number of accredited voters is also to be entered in the result sheet.

“While we could have proceeded with the elections in a few States of the country, where all the materials are available, such as Lagos, Kaduna, Kebbi, Delta, Zamfara and Enugu, among others, in order to maintain the integrity of the elections and retain effective overall control of the process, the Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to postpone the National Assembly elections to Monday, April 4, 2011.

 “I appeal to all Nigerians for their understanding in this difficult situation. We as a Commission appreciate the profound sacrifice that you have all made not just in turning out today, but also throughout this election season.

“We are greatly encouraged by you and our appeal is that you remain steadfast in this last lap of this electoral process in the interest of all Nigerians and in the cause of democracy.

 “The Commission will immediately be contacting all political parties, as major stakeholders to explain the situation. I appeal for their support in explaining the situation to their members and supporters.

 “May I also appeal to all other stakeholders, particularly national and international observers and our development partners for continued understanding. I realize that they have committed enormous resources to this process, especially in deploying observers in the field. However, we think that what is worth doing is worth doing well.

 “Finally, while we deeply regret this situation and apologize to Nigerians for the hardship this may have created, I would like to reiterate that we are fully committed to conducting free, fair and credible elections for Nigerians. The decision the Commission has taken is weighty; but it is also a very important step in further ensuring the credibility of the elections.”