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Jega, INEC Chairman
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The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission,
INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, said yesterday that it was the responsibility of
the election tribunals to determine the validity of election results produced
without the use of card readers.
Speaking at a retreat for
senior officials of the commission to review the 2015 general elections, the
INEC boss however, praised the conduct of the elections, saying it was a
success.
The retreat, which
involved Resident Electoral Commissioners, REC, with the theme 2015 General
Elections: Lessons and Way Forward, was held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Vanguard report continues:
Responding to a question
on the conduct of the election and the use of card readers, Jega explained that
while it was true that the commission allowed and accepted results where card
readers were not used in the presidential and National Assembly elections, the
reverse was the case in the governorship and state House of Assembly elections.
He said in the
governorship and House of Assembly elections, the commission specifically
stipulated that it was required for card readers to be used and where they were
not used the election tribunal would speak on the validity of the results
produced.
Breaching INEC directive
Jega said the states that
suspended the use of Card Readers for manual accreditation for governorship and
state Houses of Assembly elections, breached INEC directives that on no account
should manual accreditation be administered at both elections.
The commission chairman
assured that the tribunal would look into the areas where card readers were put
aside for manual accreditation, noting that there was a difference between
using card readers and using incident forms.
Jega said: “What we meant
by saying that card readers must be used is that we did not expect, in any
polling unit, any person to say that the card readers were not functioning and
as a result, opted for manual accreditation. No.
“We asked those who had
experienced card readers’ failure to come back the following day, assuring them
that we would replace the card readers for the election to take place.
“As far as I know,
virtually in all the places where the card readers actually failed, we came
back the following day and conducted the elections and so, if there is evidence
of any place where they just put aside the card readers and used manual
accreditation, that election can be examined.
“I am sure the tribunal
will look at the evidence clearly as to what happened.”
He attributed the success
of the exercise to the selfless sacrifice, hard work and tirelessness by the
Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs.
One of such sacrifices by
the commissioners, Jega noted, was the untimely death of Kano State REC, Alhaji
Munkaila Abdullahi.
Retreat’s objective
The chief electoral
umpire remarked that the retreat offered them the opportunity to review what
they had done from 2011 to 2015 and to focus attention on areas in which the
commission needed improvement.
He said further that the
retreat was an important vehicle for feedback, which they needed to give to the
next commission and to those who would remain in INEC with a view to
contributing to refurbish electoral processes and deepening Nigeria’s
democracy.
Jega said: “I
congratulate all electoral commissioners for a job well done and for
contributing to the success of the general elections.
“We have worked very hard
and tirelessly; we have had to make enormous sacrifices to get the outcome that
we had.
“One of those sacrifices
was the untimely death of one of us, the Electoral Commissioner of Kano State,
Alhaji Munkaila Abdullahi. These are sacrifices we had to make for our
country.”
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