President Goodluck Jonathan and the Defence Headquarters have assured
Nigerians that efforts were being intensified to ensure that the general
elections were held on March 28 and April 11 as scheduled by the Independent
National Electoral Commission.
Their assurances came barely 24 hours after INEC Chairman, Attahiru
Jega, said he was not in a position to guarantee the
sanctity of the new election dates.
Jega, who was at the Senate to brief members on the
electoral body’s preparedness for the elections had been asked to state
categorically if the dates were sacrosanct.
Avoiding being committal, he replied, “I have said consistently that
there are things under the control of the electoral commission and there are
things that are not under the control of the electoral commission. For things
that are under our control, I can give definite and categorical assurances….“There
are certain questions that we are not really competent to answer. Certain
questions should be directed to the military, they can answer them better.’’
But Jonathan, while inaugurating four naval platforms at the Naval
Dockyard in Lagos on Thursday, said, “We must conduct our elections
as scheduled by INEC because within this period, we are convinced that we will
return to a time when the activities of extremists will not affect our
elections.”
He added at the ceremony that was attended by the Chief of
Naval Staff, Vice- Admiral Usman Jibrin; the Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen.
Kenneth Minimah; the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice-Marhsal Adesola
Amosu, and the InspectorGeneral of Police, Suleiman Abba, that he was
optimistic that the military would soon end insurgency in the North-East.
He added, “Let me use this platform to promise my good countrymen and
women that we will rout Boko Haram. We are working hard day and night and I
have directed that Nigerians be briefed regularly.
“The technical capacities of our men in the air force and army have been
improved and we are pleased with what is happening. We commend the Chief of
Defence Staff and all the services for what they are doing. We also commend
other senior naval officers and ratings for this event.”
In Abuja, the Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris
Olukolade, said that the military was doing everything
possible to ensure that the elections were not delayed again.
He, however, advised other stakeholders to work to achieve the country’s
objectives.
“The military will continue to work frantically towards the nation’s
desire to achieve the peaceful and conducive atmosphere that will enable normal
socio- economic and political life including elections to take place,” Olukolade
said in an SMS.
“Please let all other stakeholders, including politicians, electoral
officials and the media also work honestly and conscientiously to achieve the
nation’s objectives. After all, security, as the saying goes, is everyone’s
business,” he added.
Before Jonathan and Olukolade spoke, some Senators said that going by
Jega’s statement, there was the need for the service chiefs to be
invited by the Senate to reassure Nigerians that there would not be further
extension of the elections.
The lawmakers, in separate
interviews in Abuja, said the INEC chief’s comment had
raised concerns by many Nigerians that the polls might be shifted
again.
The Senators are Aisha Al-Hassan, Babafemi Ojudu, Babajide Omoworare;
Bukola Saraki and Ita Enang.
Al-Hassan said, “since Jega said it was difficult for him to
guarantee the sanctity of the poll dates, the service chiefs should be invited
to convince Nigerians that the situation in the North -East would be controlled
before the poll dates.”
Saraki said, “It is still back to that issue of security which he has
said he doesn’t have the powers neither does he have an answer. Since he said
we should direct that question to the appropriate quarters, I think
that further emphasises what we were saying.
“The National Assembly still needs to bring the service chiefs to give
us the assurance.”
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