Council of State makes surprising conclusions about February polls

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 National Council of State chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan met for about seven hours on Thursday at the Presidential Villa and finally pushed the responsibility of either upholding or shifting the February 14 date for presidential election to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The decision was reached after the stormy meeting during which heads of security agencies raised safety concerns while the INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, insisted that the commission was very ready to conduct the polls as scheduled.

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

Some governors wanted the INEC to shift the dates for the polls as many Nigerians were yet to be issued with their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) without which they would be ineligible to vote in the elections.

With INEC insisting that it was more prepared now for the February polls than it was in 2011, the commission appears not to be ready to succumb to arguments in favour of change in dates for the elections which have been slated for February 14 (presidential and National Assembly) and February 28 (Governorship and State Asssembly).

Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State and Rochas Okorocha of Imo State said since the Council of State was just an advisory body, it advised the INEC to consult widely taking into consideration all perspectives expressed at the meeting and subsequently inform the nation of its final decision.

Mimiko said: “Essentially, the state of preparedness of INEC was on the table. INEC had the benefit of input from council members and security chiefs and agencies.

“And based on the very exhaustive discussion and pieces of advice, INEC is constitutionally empowered with the basis of our discussions to brief the nation and then the news will be communicated to you. 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 soon.”

Asked specifically if the meeting was for shift of date in the conduct of the elections, the governor replied: “the Council of State is essentially an advisory body, Mr. President in his wisdom has invited INEC to brief us on the state of preparedness based on what INEC briefed and based on perception of council members and security agencies; INEC was properly advised and you will hear from INEC.

Mimiko further explained that “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 as well as the fact that seven days to election 34 per cent of Nigerians are yet to get PVCs.

“It was a major issue that was discussed, issue of preparedness of security to conduct elections nationwide, issue of extensive piloting, and the card reader 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 council members to take decision about the election.”

However, obviously not satisfied with that, Okorocha insisted on continuing the briefing and made the following clarification:

“Council of State advised INEC to go and perform its civic responsibility which is to conduct elections. That is what we rose to agree on.

“It was a very challenging moment, and INEC has reaffirmed severally that they are ready, but because of concern of security agencies in some few local governments, council asked INEC to go and perform its civic responsibilities, which is the conduct of elections.

Also asked if there was a decision as to change of date for the polls, Okorocha replied: “There is no decision as to change of date or postponement at all. But the council has asked INEC to go and perform their responsibility.”

He said the PVCs would be used for the polls and no option of use of temporary cards as “the PVCs would be assumed to have been distributed before Sunday; that was 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.”

The governor also dismissed reports of Jega’s resignation, saying that it was not even discussed at the meeting.

He admitted that the APC governors and their PDP counterparts expectedly took different sides during the debate at the meeting but that obedience to the Nigerian Constitution was the common denominator.

His words: “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 some will be against, but the truth is that we looked at the Constitution of Nigeria.”