election postponement drama in Aso Villa

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.
Firstclassnewsline.net
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.
Firstclassnewsline.net