Despite the decision of the National Council of States that the 2015 elections should go on as scheduled there is mounting pressure on Prof Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to postpone the election by six weeks and there are indications that he may likely bow to the pressure, which sources close to him say he has been overwhelmed by, according to Leadership Newspaper.

The Council of State, after a marathon meeting that began at about 11:30am and ended at about 7:30pm on Thursday, urged INEC to proceed with its assignment of conducting the 2015 general elections scheduled to begin on February 14, 2015.

The development followed the insistence of the electoral body that it was fully prepared for the polls on the grounds that 65 per cent of Nigerians had received their permanent voter cards (PVCs).

A highly placed INEC official told LEADERSHIP Weekend yesterday that despite Jega’s assurances that the commission was ready for the election and his insistence that the election must go on, he was, however, now worried that some top officials of INEC who had stood by him that the election should go on were now changing their position in a manner that suggested that they may have been bought over by those pushing for the election shift, hence, may sabotage the measures put in place to conduct the polls successfully.

According to sources, the proponents of election shift, working in cohorts with highly placed security advisers in the presidency have been engaged in subtle blackmail of the INEC chairman, citing the security situation, particularly in the north eastern part of the country and nationwide tension as reasons why the elections must not go on.

The sources told LEADERSHIP Weekend that security forces, had categorically told Jega that they could not guarantee security for the conduct of the election at this time, saying he would be responsible for whatever outcome if he insists on going ahead.

It was further gathered that President Goodluck Jonathan had in a meeting with a visiting group, said he had no problem with the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen Muhammadu Buhari, but expressed worry over four people around Buhari, namely Rivers State governor and director general of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, former Bayelsa State governor, Timipre Sylva, Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II and APC governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai.

Sources close to the presidency further hinted that the plan of the ruling party is to postpone the election in the hope that the postponement would provoke unrest that would lead to the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency and in the event that this fails, the long period before the new election date would wear out the financial resources of the opposition.

Electoral body not prepared – FG

Meanwhile, in a move that could be said to be a confirmation of allegations that the presidency and the PDP are behind sundry calls for the postponement of the elections scheduled to hold seven days from today, the presidency yesterday gave a barrage of reasons why it nurses some reservations that the February14 date scheduled for the conduct of the 2015 general election may not be feasible.

It insisted that INEC had not been able to convince Nigerians that it was ready for the elections, adding that there had never been and never shall be any plan to cancel the 2015 elections for any reasons whatsoever because the May 29th date for the swearing-in of a new government in the country is sacrosanct.

Senior special assistant to the president on public affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, who stated this at a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, also said all the talks about interim government arrangement were pure fiction.

He said it had become necessary to correct some wrong information in the media concerning the outcome of the Council of State meeting held at the Presidential Villa on Thursday.

According to Okupe, it was the INEC chairman who mentioned clearly before the Council of State that “given a little more time, INEC would be in a better position to perfect these processes and its readiness for the 2015 elections.”

He said, “President Goodluck Jonathan is not interested, neither is he engaged in any form of subterfuge to pressurise INEC to change the dates of the 2015 elections. The president like many governors and citizens of Nigeria is concerned about the state of preparedness of INEC for the 2015 elections, especially as it concerns the guarantee of the rights of every Nigerian citizen who has fulfilled the conditions for INEC’s voter registration and may still be disenfranchised from the process of voting at the general elections.”

The presidential aide recalled that the 2003, 2007 and 2011, elections were held in April and the hand over date was not affected. He cited the security situation and the danger that the current war against insurgency in some parts of the country may pose on the conduct of elections in the affected areas as the main concern of the presidency about the polls taking place this month.

Okupe said, “I wish to state categorically here that at no time during the entire 7 hour meeting did the INEC Chairman Prof Attahiru Jega insist that the elections must hold on February 14th and 28th 2015 as published by some electronic/print media. Rather Jega gave the council a report on the progress so far made by the INEC on its preparedness for the 2015 elections.

“In all its submissions the only process that was 100 per cent concluded was the preparation and availability of the voters register. All other processes including provision, distribution and collection of PVC’s, printing of ballot papers, distribution of Verification machines and other non-sensitive materials, recruitment and training of ad hoc staff were as at 5th February 2015 all “works in progress”; with some assurance that all will be ready on or before 14th of February 2015.

“Also in his presentations to the council the INEC chairman stated clearly that for the electoral process to be free, fair, and credible, there are other matters which were not under the control of INEC principal among which is the issue of provision and guarantee of security of life and property.”

Okupe added that even the security chiefs unanimously suggested at the council meeting that it would be difficult for them to guarantee security for INEC in areas worst hit by the terrorist group.

He said, “the security chiefs were unanimous in their advice to the council that it will be impossible for now for them to guarantee security of electoral materials, INEC staff and the voting population in the areas currently engulfed by the war against insurgency.

“Some opinions were therefore proffered that elections may be allowed to hold on the 14th February in the 32 states not affected by the current war against terrorism; while local elections may thereafter hold in those areas after the security situation would have improved.

“The President made it clear that he cannot in good conscience endorse an electoral arrangement where people from a section of the country would be excluded from the electoral process due to no fault of theirs or by virtue of just being unfortunate residents of an area under siege of terrorism.”

Besides, Okupe said President Jonathan is not happy that the situation “will tend to confirm the deliberate falsehood already being propagated in some parts of the country that he was encouraging the war in the North East to ensure that voters in the APC states of the North East are not allowed to vote in the 2015 elections. The final conclusion was that INEC should in view of the several submissions made in the council, by the former presidents, state governors and the security agencies, go and consult further after which they should communicate their decisions to the Nigerian People on the suitability or otherwise of the February 14th and 28th dates.”

On the guarantee that should the polls be shifted, the Boko Haram activities would be contained for the elections to take place, he said with the new wave of successes being recorded by the military in the war against insurgency, there was hope.

Okupe further challenged the opposition to state what injury they will suffer should the elections are postponed.

“This administration remains committed to a transparent, credible all inclusive free and fair elections, and will ensure that it employs all powers available to it to guarantee that this happens without any infringement on our sacred constitutional provisions”.

Okupe further hinted that field report has indicated that many of the states were yet to receive PVCs for those who registered newly in November.

He said, “this number is in several millions. In some states, (name withheld), a polling unit is recorded to have distributed 1200 cards, but the actual voters register from the headquarters indicated that only eight people are reflected.

“In Sokoto, nine LGAs are yet to receive PVCs for the CVR nine days to the elections. Most of the states of the federation are yet to receive full compliments of the required card reading machines, most of which have not been tested or tried.

“The INEC has directed that should any card reading machine fail, the voters are to return the next day, while the result of elections is frozen at the polling stations. As I speak to you, the majority of the 960,000 Adhoc staff are yet to be recruited and trained especially on the operations of card readers that are yet to be made available. As of today, Lagos is yet to receive a balance of 12,000 card readers with elections in a week from now. It will be very reassuring if the INEC can get its state Residential Electoral Commissioners to attach their state of readiness to a sworn affidavit and show it to the Nigerian people”.

We will decide today – INEC

Following the advice of the National Council of State, INEC said the commission’s chairman, Jega, will today meet with chairmen and secretaries of all registered political parties, as well as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to decide whether or not the election should go on as scheduled.

Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Kayode Idowu, in a statement issued yesterday, said the decision reached at the meeting would be communicated to all Nigerians today.

“On Thursday, February 5, 2015, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, was invited to brief the National Council of State (NCS) on the preparedness of INEC to conduct the 2015 general elections. He made a presentation titled “Preparations for the 2015 General Elections: Progress Report.’ The National Security Adviser (NSA) and Armed Services Chiefs also briefed the council on the current security situation.

“As a follow-up to that meeting, the commission has scheduled a consultative meeting with chairmen and secretaries of all registered political parties, as well as a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) on Saturday, February 7, 2015. Thereafter, the commission will address a press conference to brief the nation on its decision with regard to whether or not the general elections will hold as currently scheduled,” the statement read.

Ethnic Groups Kick Against Postponement of Election

Against the backdrop of calls for the postponement of the elections, leaders of regional socio-cultural organisations in the country have also joined the ranks of those insisting that the elections should go ahead as scheduled.

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and Afenifere are all of the opinion that INEC should not succumb to the pressure of shifting the poll. Some however gave conditions for postponing the poll, but said it shouldn’t affect the handover date.

When LEADERSHIP Weekend spoke to leaders of the various organisations, they advised INEC to resist the temptation to shift the election date despite the mounting pressure.

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) in a chat, accused the executive arm of government and the ruling People’s Democratic Party of allegedly planning to shift the polls for fear of losing to the opposition parties.

Spokesman of the forum and former vice chancellor of the Ahmadu Belo University, Zaria, Prof Ango Abdullahi, said, “It appears and clear to all that it is the ruling party and the executive that are calling for the postponement of the elections because they are scare of losing. The ruling party and the executive appear not to be ready for the February elections. The election must go on. We insist that it should be held and we reject any plan to postpone it.”

Also reacting to the calls for the postponement of the elections, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought in a communiqué after a closed door meeting held in Kaduna yesterday which lasted for about eight hours, called on INEC and other stakeholders, to under no circumstances, contemplate the postponement of the elections as scheduled.

According to them, the implication of postponing the elections will be too far-reaching, as it may create constitutional crisis, loss of confidence by the people in the system and social crises as well as general uncertainty.

The two leading groups in the communiqué signed by Ibrahim Ahmadu Coomassie, chairman of ACF and Chief I.O Jemide, Leader of Delegation of the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, reaffirmed their belief in one Nigeria and confidence in the role elections play in a democracy and therefore asked all to sustain the current democratic system, adding that “we should not temper with the electoral process.”

The Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo on its part also said the elections should go ahead as planned. It however added that the poll could be shifted to April if INEC is presently not prepared to conduct the polls on those dates.

In a telephone interview with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND, secretary general of the organisation, Dr. Joe Nwaorgu, said INEC should be given more time to ensure that every eligible voter exercises their franchise, adding that the commission should ensure equity and fairness in the discharge of its constitutional function.

“If arrangements are inadequate, Ohanaeze Ndigbo stands for the deferment of the general elections to allow all Nigerians who are of age to exercise their franchise. This is an exercise that takes place every four years, and since the last general elections many more people have attained the voting age, and so nobody should be disenfranchised. That is our position,” Nwaorgu said.

He further said the Electoral Act could be tinkered with to accommodate the proposal for the deferment of the general elections. “The law is made for man, and not man for the law. The 2011 general election was held in April. For equity and fairness, nobody should be disenfranchised”, argues the secretary general.

The coordinator of the Middle Belt Dialogue, Mr Aminu Izang, who also spoke to LEADERSHIP Weekend, said the elections ought to go ahead as planned but since the INEC chairman had ample opportunity to finish all the necessary arrangements but failed, the forum wouldn’t say no to a postponement.

According to him, a lot of people do not have the PVCs and so if the election is shifted, it will give room to those people to get their PVCs to vote and INEC would have done enough preparation to conduct the election.

However, the Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, supported calls for the postponement of the February 14 election despite assurance by the Independent INEC chairman.

The group said over 40 per cent of the electorate were yet to collect their voter cards, hence the need for INEC to pause a bit to enable those are yet to collect their PVCs to do so, so as to capture the maximum number of people who registered to vote.

Making the position of the group known to LEADERSHIP correspondent yesterday, its Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin said, if INEC would conduct an acceptable election for Nigerians, the tenets of democracy must be strictly adhered to, adding that it is not feasible for credible polls to hold when majority of voters are yet to collect their PVCs.

The group expressed dismay over the assurance of the INEC chairman that the commission is ready to distribute voter cards a day to the election which they said is not feasible, saying if they have failed to do it before now, there is no assurance that they will conclude the distribution before the election.

“As at today, we are worried that Prof Jega said he is ready for the election when over 40 per cent of the electorate have not collected their PVCs and if Prof. Jega is organising election for Nigeria and not on vested interest, it is good that we get maximum number of the people that register to vote.

“I heard him when he said they are more prepared than they were in 2011 but then, there was nobody who registered that did not have card to vote because they had the temporary cards. So if we have a situation whereby some people have not collected their PVCs and there are allegations here and there of deliberate sabotage, I think it is necessary and proper to pause and find solutions to the matter, most especially the security challenges in the North East.

“In any case, as long as no law is violated, what should not be tampered with is the handing over date, that is May 29 which is sacrosanct and no law says election must hold on February 14. So if elections hold up till April 28, no laws will be violated. When we sort out the problems and we hold proper elections that will not resort to problems, nobody will have any reason to challenge the outcome. In doing that, we will be able to defend our democracy, but let nobody tamper with the handover date of May 29,” Odumakin said.

He also warned that the outcome of any election conducted on the basis of disenfranchising almost half of the electorate, will not be credible or acceptable.