56m electorate to choose between Jonathan and Buhari

56 million Nigerians will file out today to elect the next president
in an election believed to be the keenest in the history of the
country.
The figure represents 81.9 per cent of the total number of 70,383,427
voters that registered for the election.
The ruling Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan and the opposition All Progressives Congress
candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) are once again asking for
Nigerians' votes in this year's general elections to enable them to
lead the country.
The two political gladiators contested in the 2011 general elections
won by Jonathan. But this year's election has generated much tension
across the country following the near equal strength of the two major
presidential candidates in the poll.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had in February shifted
the general elections as a result of insecurity in the North-East and
poor distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, had said that the commission
was empowered by Section 26 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended)
to shift national elections due to some factors.
He explained that the postponement followed reports by the National
Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) and other service chiefs
that their agencies would not be able to guarantee security of the
commission's personnel in some parts of the country. Jega had denied
that INEC was forced to shift the polls, adding that the electoral
body took the best decision under the prevailing circumstances.
"Nobody has forced us to take this decision; it is a very weighty
decision, but under the present circumstances, we have taken the best
decision and we stand by it," he had said.
The postponement of the elections was said to have given security
agencies the opportunity to reduce the insecurity posed by the Boko
Haram terrorist group in the three North-Eastern states of Borno,
Adamawa and Yobe as well as to allow the electoral body to improve in
its distribution of the PVCs.
INEC, in its bid to ensure credible conduct of the elections,
introduced a lot of innovations, including the PVCs and the smart card
readers to prevent rigging.
The electoral body also increased existing polling units by 30,000. By
this addition, the total number of polling units across the country's
774 local government areas is now 150,000 from the initial 119,973.
The creation of the additional units was contained in an INEC bulletin
signed by the Director in charge of the commission's secretariat,
Ishiaku Gali.
Gali had said the decision to create the additional polling units was
taken at the commission's meeting on August 12, 2014 so as to
decongest polling units across the country.
As Nigerians elect the new president today, however, the electoral
body has put the current total number of registered voters at
70,383,427 of which Lagos State with 5,426,391 has the highest number
of registered voters. Nigeria's commercial capital is followed by Kano
with the second highest number of registered voters of 4,751,818.
Meanwhile, INEC has warned the electorate to shun activities that
could trigger off breakdown of law and order as they vote for the
candidates of their choice.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ekiti, Mr. Sam Olumekun, and
Head, Voter Education in Kwara State, Mr. Jacob Iyanda, asked the
electorate to remain orderly while casting their ballots.
Olumekun, who spoke with a source through the commission's Public
Relations Officer, Alhaji Taiwo Gbadegesin, said, "Voters are to be
orderly and follow the instructions of electoral officers. They are
not supposed to accept bribe because that is against the ethics of the
election."
Also, Iyanda warned voters or politicians against canvassing for votes
during accreditation.
He said, "Voters are expected to come to the polling units with their
PVCs. Secondly, they should follow the instructions of INEC officials
because they are going to move from one point to the other in the
process of accreditation.
"Voters should not canvass for vote, they should not wear any clothe
or cap that has symbol of any political party. No symbol of a
political party should be found on them. Voters should cast their
votes and if they know they want to stay back to watch the
proceedings, they should stay quietly and stay out of trouble.
"It is also wrong for them to accept bribe from party agents to cast
their votes.
"Voters should make sure that once they finish accreditation between
8am and 1pm, by the time the real voting is supposed to come up by
1.30pm, everybody is supposed to be at the polling units. Once the
voters are called to queue up and counted, then it will be difficult
to start looking for someone who is not around. So before 1.30 pm, all
voters must have converged on the polling units."
The Deputy Director in charge of Voter Education in Osun State, Rev.
Canon Stephen Ojewande, warned politicians and their parties against
making provocative comments that could create bad blood among voters.
Urging voters to conduct themselves at the polling units while
exercising their civic responsibility peacefully, Ojewande assured
them of adequate security.
He also warned that anyone caught canvassing for votes on the election
day would be dealt with according to the provision of the law.
Ojewande said, "We want voters to go to their polling units with their
PVCs. Accreditation will be done and after this, voting will start.
Nobody should canvass for votes during accreditation or voting time."
Head of Voters Education Department in Oyo State, Mr. Ayodele Folami,
said voters were expected to arrive at the polling units by 8am for
accreditation.
He said, "We have electoral guidelines guiding the conduct of our
staff, ad-hoc members and voters. It is standard rule and having gone
through more than a decade of democratic process, we expect voters to
have acquainted themselves with the rules. They are expected to be at
the polling units by 8am and cooperate with our staff while verifying
their PVCs.
"They are also expected to be law-abiding and respect the next voter
who could be loyal to a rival party. Normally, political discussion is
not allowed around the polling units because it could lead to
violence."
Folami added, "At no time on the day of the election will candidates
or their supporters be allowed to campaign. All campaigns stop before
the day. Campaign on such day is against electoral guidelines. Any
politician who does so on the days of the elections will face the law
and could jeopardise his chances or that of his candidate. It is also
a crime to take bribe from party agents to cast vote for their
candidate on election day."
In Plateau, the police said that they had taken measures, along with
all relevant authorities and stakeholders to forestall breakdown of
law and order during the polls.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Emmanuel Abuh, said that the
police are also in touch with heads of various institutions, including
universities, asking them to sensitise members of their communities
against being used by unscrupulous politicians or taking the law into
their hands.
He said, "Just as we have been briefing various stakeholders on the
preparations for the elections, the police are working round the
clock. No segment of the society will be left or neglected. Every
precautionary measure has been taken to ensure that there is no
breakdown of law and order.
He added, "As you can see, all the security agencies in the state
carried out a show of force round the streets of Jos and its environs.
This is to show you that we are serious about the election."
Assistant Registrar, Information and Publication, University of Jos,
Mr. Aaron Abdullahi, said that the institution did not envisage any
problem during the polls as students are currently on break till April
16.
Abdullahi said, "The students are currently on break until April 16,
but we have adequate security cover on campus right now. UNIJOS
security staff members are currently on one-week intensive training
from Monday, March 23 to 27. The resource persons are drawn from the
police, DSS, military and other security experts."
Meanwhile, the Federal Road Safety Commission said the body had
deployed 20,000 personnel and 413 patrol vehicles along designated
routes for today's elections.
Corps Marshal, FRSC, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, said this was to ensure
sanity on the nation's highways during the polls.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Spokesperson for the
commission, Mr. Imoh Etuk, and made available to a source in Abuja on
Thursday.
It said the commission had drawn a roadmap toward effective patrolling
of designated routes on the highways to ensure best road safety
practices among road users during the exercise.
It said the 24 Emergency Ambulance Response Centres at the various
routes across the country would also complement efforts of the
commission.
The routes are: FCT, Kaduna, Gombe, Jigawa, Taraba, Niger, Kogi, Ondo,
Edo, Osun, Nasarawa, Plateau and Kwara states where the centres were
located.
He said, "Motorists are hereby enjoined to ensure proper planning and
management of trips through maintenance of their vehicles and
compliance with traffic rules and regulations.
" Road users are strictly warned to desist from all road vices such as
overloading, speed limit violation, non-use of seat belt, route
violation (driving against traffic), making/receiving calls while
driving and night trips.
"Details of the objectives of this special exercise include the
removal of obstructions from the highways; traffic
control/decongestion and public enlightenment campaigns.
"Road users are strictly advised to desist from night trips and ensure
that vehicles which ply the highways conform with safety standard,"
the corps marshal added.
He listed functional head/tail lights, wipers, tyres, fire
extinguisher, caution sign and non-defective windscreen as some of the
basic conditions to be met by all motorists.
Oyeyemi urged motorists to call the FRSC Toll Free Emergency Numbers:
122 and 070022553772 to report any traffic crash or any other
traffic-related challenges, for prompt response.
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