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| Prof. Attahiru Jega |
INEC chairman yesterday said the commission was not
under pressure to declare the elections inconclusive. Jega, who gave a
situation report on the presidential and National Assembly elections at press
conference in Abuja, said, “We are not under any pressure to declare
inconclusive elections.” He added that no politician would be interested in
such a declaration, “rather they want to be declared winner,” he said.
Leadership newspaper reports:
Jega also revealed that the commission had commenced
investigation into the incidence of electoral violence, especially the burning
of its office in Rivers State and the killing of INEC ad hoc workers in Gombe
State.
The INEC chairman noted that the commissioned had
received allegations of election rigging by its employees, stating that the
commission had also started an enquiry into the matter.
Jega who also revealed that he had received a petition
from the APC in Rivers State calling for the rescheduling of the elections in
the state, and pledged that the commission would also do its best to investigate
its merit.
He further noted that all cases of underage voting
were being investigated, especially in Taraba State, just as he assured that
the commission will investigate incidences of substitution of ad hoc staff in
Lagos State.
He said: “There was one clip that has been in
circulation since yesterday (Saturday) afternoon about an underage voter said
to be from Taraba and we have mandated our Resident Electoral Commissioner
(REC) to investigate it thoroughly and identify where this happened, and to
also identify the polling official who did it because it is clearly illegal to
allow and underage person.
“There were a few other reported cases in which some
observers said that they have seen underage voting; we are yet to see details
which would have enabled us to investigate these malpractices.
“Underage registration and voting is illegal, with
this record that is in circulation, it should be possible to identify the
polling unit and the
official in that polling unit as well as the person.
It is possible to trace the person; we are investigating this thoroughly and we
will take appropriate measures when the case is established,” the chairman of
INEC assured.
He also announced that the commission had received
reports from Gombe which have been confirmed by the REC in Gombe that persons
suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents attacked and, in the process, two ad-hoc
staffers of INEC lost their lives during which a vehicle belonging to the
National Union of Road Transport was also hijacked.
“This is very unfortunate and we have sent condolences
to the families of the bereaved; any loss of life is regrettable and
unfortunate. We condemn it in no uncertain terms. We will do everything
possible to express our heartfelt condolences to the families of the bereaved.”
Jega further warned “strongly against premature
publication or announcement of results by unauthorized persons and media
channels, particularly online sites, saying only INEC was empowered by law to
announce results.
“It is an offence for anyone to pre-empt the
commission in that regard,” he insisted.
Jega revealed that Osun, Kebbi, Ekiti, Adamawa, Borno,
Jigawa, Anambra, Akwa Ibom and Ebonyi states reverted to manual-only
accreditation of voters in some polling units, after encountering card reader
hitches, adding “that investigations into what accounted for the difficulties
encountered with the card readers are ongoing.”
He however said election could not be concluded at
Saturday in 90 polling units in Lagos State, 16 in Kebbi, 25 in Adamwa, 6 in
Niger, 37 in Yobe 8 in Borno, 37 in Jigawa, 13 in Kano, 116 in Taraba and 2 in
the FCT, Abuja.
He further clarified that only .025 percent of the
card readers, out of 150, 000, malfunctioned during the accreditation process,
which he described as statistically insignificant.
He denied insinuations that the card readers did not
have sufficient battery back-up, noting that provisions were made.
He also announced that collation of results would
commence by noon today.
He
added that there would not be declaration of results from any states until the
electoral officers provide hard copies of the results to the commission.
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