The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen.
Kenneth Minimah, on Tuesday hinted that elections may not hold in North-East
communities recently liberated from Boko Haram insurgents.
Minimah told journalists after a
Security Council meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja
that government structures needed to be restored in the town and villages
before issues about elections could be discussed.
The presidential election is billed
for March 28 while governorship and National Assembly polls will take place on
April 11.
The COAS however said that the
Independent National Electoral Commission needed to re-assess the situation in
the communities before a final stand could be taken on elections.
The Chairman of INEC, Attahiru Jega,
had briefed the meeting attended by all heads of security agencies and relevant
ministers of the state of the electoral body’s preparedness for the general
elections while the security chiefs gave updates on the anti-terrorism war.
Minimah said, “I am not competent to
speak on that (elections) matter. INEC is still there, INEC has to re-access
the situation and evaluate because the areas have been liberated, but I can
also tell you that not all structures of governance have been reinstated.
“They will need to be reinstated so that
citizens can go back to their areas and it is then I think they can execute
their rights as voters.”
When probed further, the Army chief
said he did not know how soon the structures could be reinstated.
When further asked whether the
operation could be completed before March 28, he replied , “It is our wish and
we pray God gives that to us, but war is war. War sometimes is not fought on
some platforms of permutation.”
The COAS disclosed that after
reviewing the North-East operations particularly in the last three weeks, the
council renewed its confidence in the Nigerian Armed Forces and commended the
troops.
He said, “You know Yobe and Adamawa
states have been liberated completely and we look forward to the reinstatement
of structures of government and governance.
“I am also sure you know that in
Borno State, out of the 27 local governments, we have three local governments
remaining: Abadam, Kalabaldi and Gwoza and we are optimistic that with time, we
will liberate those LGAs.”
Despite the success recorded
however, Minimah said there was no news yet on the over 200 schoolgirls
abducted in Chibok, Borno State, almost a year ago.
He said, “There is no news on the
Chibok girls for now. In all the liberated areas , we have also made enquiries
but the truth is when the terrorists are running away, they also run with their
families.
“Those we have come in contact with
have not made any comments suggesting that Chibok girls were there and taken
away.
“But we are optimistic that as they are losing
the areas captured by them, we will get further details on that.”
The Army boss also denied media
reports that security agencies were being assisted in the war against terrorism
by mercenaries.
“There are no mercenaries employed
by anyone. What we have are advisers and instructors and they are all over the
world. Whenever you have new equipment, the equipment comes with contract and
the contract includes maintenance and the technicians that come with them are
those that we hire,” he said.
Jega had emerged from the council
meeting at about 2.20pm after briefing the members on INEC’s preparations for
the elections.
He was accompanied to the meeting by
two top officials of the commission.
When State House correspondents
asked him about the meeting, the INEC boss simply said, “I believe it went
well.”
He did not answer subsequent
questions relating to the use of card reader during the elections and INEC’s
level of preparedness as he made his way out of the Presidential Villa.
The meeting which started a few
minutes after 11am had in attendance, the Vice President Namadi Sambo; the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim; the Chief of Staff
to the President, Jones Arogbofa; the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki;
the Attorney-General of the Federation, Muhammed Adoke (SAN); the Minister of
Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan; the Minister of Interior, Aba Moro; and
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aminu Wali.
Others were the Chief of Defence
Staff, Alex Badeh; the Chief of Naval Staff, Usman Jibrin; the Chief of Air
Staff, Adesola Amosu; the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba; as well
as the heads of the Department of State Services, the National Intelligence
Agency and the Chief of Defence Intelligence.
700,000 PVCs still being produced
–Jega
The PUNCH gathered from one of the
officials that attended the meeting that Jega reassured the council of INEC’s
readiness for the elections.
He was also said to have told the
council that 700,000 permanent voter cards were still being produced and that
those who had yet to collect their PVCs still had till March 22 to do so.
According to the official, Jega
explained that the commission had utilised the six-week period of extension to
further perfect the electoral process in order to deliver credible elections to
Nigerians.
A copy of Jega’s statement at the
meeting tagged “Update on INEC’s preparedness for the 2015 general elections,”
was also obtained exclusively by our correspondent.
In the document, the INEC boss
insisted that the commission had forged ahead in its determination to conduct
the elections on the rescheduled dates.
He said, “It can be seen that INEC
has forged ahead with preparations to conduct the 2015 general elections as
rescheduled for March 28 and April 11.
“We believe that the period of extension has
offered us an opportunity to further perfect the electoral process for the
delivery of free, fair, credible and peaceful elections.
“I am pleased that all the
non-sensitive and sensitive materials for the elections, including ballot
papers, have now been delivered to states ready for deployment.”
Jega however raised security
concerns over the polls.
He stressed the need for soldiers to
be on standby in case of violence since policemen who would be at polling
booths would not be armed.
The electoral umpire added,
“Security on the day of election and the days following the elections remains a
major area of concern.
“Among other things, we hope that
the traditional ban on public officials moving around with their security
details and orderlies will be stringently enforced.
“We also hope that the ban on
unauthorised general movement will be enforced. The bounding over politicians
and the rounding up of thugs and drug suppliers should be intensified.
“Perhaps most importantly, we appeal
for special preparations for protecting election staff, including rapid
evacuation when necessary. Corpers’ lodges should also be adequately
protected.”
Jega also said that the commission
had made full preparations to enable Internally Displaced Persons to vote
during the elections.
This, he explained, would apply to
IDPs from areas that are worst hit by the insurgency, specifically Adamawa,
Borno and Yobe states.
The plan, according to him, is to
create voting centres in safe areas.
He said where applicable, the voting
centres would be located close to the IDP camps.
Jega added that the arrangement
would require special provisions for security and the commission would be
counting on the various agencies for assistance.
He described the turnout for the
mock demonstration of card reader as satisfactory.
According to him, the demonstration
was also largely satisfactory with close to 100 percent verification and 60
percent authentication.
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