We’ll release polls results in 48 hrs – Jega

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has said efforts are being put in place to ensure the release of official results of all elections within 48 hours. Jega said this while addressing editors in his office in Abuja, on Wednesday. He explained that INEC’s plan was to collate and release results of all the three sets of election within two days. The elections are the National Assembly, which will hold on Saturday; presidential on April 9; and governorship and states Houses of Assembly on April 16, 2011. The INEC boss also said as part of its plans to ensure the credibility of the polls, the commission would deploy electronic collation as surveillance methods to trace deployment of election materials, as well as the collation of results. To this end, he disclosed that 400,000 staff /ad hoc staff had been recruited and trained to conduct or perform several roles before, during and after the elections. Jega also said the commission had done all within its powers to insulate members of staff from the process of collation of results. He said, “We are now ready for the conduct of the elections; we are pleased with the state of preparedness. “We have recruited and trained about 400,000, an average of three polling unit staff plus a number of supervisory officials. In terms of logistics, we have tried to improve. “We are targeting, we are doing our best to see that within 48 hours, the results are announced.” “We are targeting 48 hours. But you should remember that Nigeria is a very vast country but we expect the results to be collated and announced in 48 hours.” By John Alechenu, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch