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Thursday, April 7, 2011

‘We’re not responsible for botched elections’

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday washed its hands off the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct the National Assembly elections on April 2. It said after its weekly meeting in Abuja that INEC, which it described as an independent body, was granted all its requests prior to the botched elections. The council, however, enjoined Nigerians not only to pray for the commission but to offer suggestions on what should be done to ensure a hitch-free elections. The Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. Labaran Maku, made FEC’s position known while addressing journalists after the meeting that took place at the State House. The meeting which was presided by President Goodluck Jonathan, was attended by Vice- President Namadi Sambo and the ministers. Maku, who stated that the meeting reviewed issues that led to the botched polls, said that the postponement of the April 2 polls to Saturday had provided the INEC with the opportunity to address all its perceived hiccups. Asked if FEC considered how the identified logistics challenges could be effectively addressed, Maku replied that the electoral body made its own plans and deployed its own resources. The minister said, “INEC is independent of the Executive arm of government, because INEC is an ombudsman. We have done everything possible, especially under President (Goodluck) Jonathan, to remove the last vestiges of any control of the Federal executive on INEC. “So INEC is an independent body, with its own budget, with its own planning, (and) it deploys its own resources. What we have done, especially since last year, is to make available to INEC, every requirement. Every financial requirement that the body has asked for the successful conduct of the general elections was made available to it.” Maku noted that the logistics lapses, particularly transportation challenges, could affect the outcome of the elections. He said, “There were several concerns last weekend in the elections that were subsequently postponed, the logistics and deployment in some places showed room for concern. “I believe that, with this postponement, INEC is handling all those issues that were raised by observers, politicians and actors concerning the level of preparations that we saw last week. “It is our hope and belief that, come April 9, INEC will now have the opportunity of using the postponement to address all the issues, especially the question of having adequate vehicles to transport materials from distribution centres to polling centres, and back to the collation centres. “It is very important because if those logistics arrangements are inadequate, then they create room for individuals to go in and help, and that help indeed can tamper with the security of materials and the outcome of elections.” Maku solicited the support of all Nigerians for INEC, to enable it succeed in the polls. “It is our belief that all of us as stakeholders - the media, the political class, and members of the public - would be working along with INEC in terms of support, in terms of prayers, in terms of monitoring and indeed in suggestions, so that most of these problems would be addressed in the forthcoming, rescheduled elections,” he said. The minister also reacted to concerns over a possible postponement of the April 9 polls in parts of the country. “INEC has not informed the government and the public if there are some states where elections might not hold,” he said. After the meeting, President Jonathan received a report on the 2010 Hajj exercise, and asked religious leaders to pray against violence during the general elections. He said some desperate politicians were prepared to win at all costs. The President said, “This is an opportunity to appreciate what religious leaders, both Muslims and Christians, are doing in the country. “This is a period that we require your prayers more because we have individuals sometimes that are quite desperate and who want to kill, who want to maim people because of political office. “There is nothing Allah can’t do; your prayers will help to reduce these excesses of some of us who are politicians,” he said. Jonathan added that religious leaders should not only pray for violence-free polls, they should also instruct politicians to refrain from all forms of divisive tendencies. “I believe that the religious leaders have roles to play in shaping our polity and you can admonish us to keep away from politics of tribalism, politics of ethnicity and of course, the issue of religious intolerance that are somehow becoming a key factor in our day-to-day activity,” he said. He noted that political leaders should be concerned with finding ways to improve the quality of lives of Nigerians. “I always tell people that poverty does not know ethnicity, does not speak any language and for us as leaders, our duty is to collectively see what we can do to improve on the quality of lives of our people, which we are committed to do,” Jonathan said. He promised the commission that the federal government would make use of the report. He said, “One of the reasons why government decided to institutionalise the office of the Amir-ul Hajj is to make sure that we learn from experience and I believe that as we progress with this new arrangement, the annual conduct will be well regulated and areas we think we should modify, government will modify to make sure we do it right. “We are receiving this report at the most auspicious time because of the political activities going on in the states. “I thank you for the leadership and I promise you we will study this report and all the recommendations will be taken very seriously.” Earlier, the Amirul- Hajj, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar 111, had told Jonathan that the 2010 Hajj operation was conducted successfully. By Ihuoma Chiedozie Courtesy Of: Punch

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