The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, has announced the distribution of the direct data capture machines it has received, to all its offices nationwide.
He said the commission is mindful of the errors of the past and will set up a call centre wherein aggrieved people can call in to get rapid response during the coming 2011 general elections.
Describing the theft of some of the imported equipment for the election at the Murtala Muhammed Airport,
Lagos as a symbol of systemic failure in governance, Mr. Jega said however that it cannot affect the activities of the commission as the machines cannot be useful outside the commission.
Speaking at a round table talk on “Free and Fair Elections: Citizens Or INEC’s Responsibility?”, organised by the National Economic Summit Group in Lagos yesterday, Mr. Jega said that the commission has concluded the training of trainers. According to him, the machines are carrying INEC logos and cannot be used by just anybody since each machine, before it is actually deployed, will be programmed to ensure that it can only be used by a particular polling unit.
He said that there are a lot of deficiencies in the system, especially in the logistic of moving officials and materials to the places of demand during elections, noting that “Things have been so bad for so long in our electoral and political processes that we should not be totally disappointed if we do not attain perfection in the current endeavour.” He regretted that officers of the commission had to rely on politicians and political parties to move materials during elections.
We will do better
He said it has been difficult planning a way out of the challenges, with the commission still not having enough vehicles to cover the entire routes, “So what we are trying to do now is to ensure that there is enough logistic as needed to reduce the incentives or excuses that people will have to be source of such needs, because we will just start going down. As time goes on we will do better.” Also, describing the 2011 election as a period that Nigeria must work hard to get it right, he said that “Nigerians have aspired and struggled for democracy and have been continuously frustrated,’’ and that yet, “there is a clear national consensus in Nigeria today for free, fair and credible elections in 2011 and beyond.”
Stating that the only concern to the entire country has been how to address the crisis of leadership and governance, which has be-devilled the country, he said getting elections right and making votes to count is a major step in addressing the crisis of governance.
Mr. Jega said that the challenges towards achieving a credible election is very enormous for the commission, and wished that it was established at least eighteen months before the election.
Limited period
According to Mr. Jega, “INEC was reconstituted in the last week of June and began work in earnest to actualize the aspiration of Nigerians for free, fair and credible elections. As a political scientist what I have done is to look at other countries where election management bodies have been constituted and I have discovered that on average it takes about eighteen month for a new commission to be in place before it conducts a national election.”
Mr. Jega who said what people call him on the streets now is ‘‘N78.8 billion’’ promised not to break the law and also to account for every kobo given to the commission.
The Director General of the Group, Frank Nweke however applauded the commission’s chairman for a job well done so far, but urged him to ensure that all logistical faults that could hinder progress are tackled. He also said the presidential aspirants would also be brought together soon for a debate by the group.
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