FROM MADU ONUORAH, MOHAMMED ABUBAKAR, AZIMAZI MOMOH JIMOH AND ABOSEDE MUSARI, ABUJA
Why Nigeria must get it right, by Jonathan
More foreign observers arrive
ANPP seeks level-playing field
“WE think we have done everything possible to hold the election on Saturday and we hope that the outcome will be substantially better than what we got last Saturday.”
With these words yesterday, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, assured that the conduct of tomorrow’s presidential election would be better than that of the National Assembly.
Jega spoke as President Goodluck Jonathan met with election observers from across the world during which he restated the Federal Government’s commitment to free and fair polls, urging all stakeholders in the electoral process to exhibit patriotism by working towards achievement of the goal. According to him, Nigeria has a duty to conduct free and fair elections in order to live up to its leadership responsibility on the African continent, and to be able to admonish others who may not feel obliged to do the same.
Meanwhile, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), a U.S.-based non-governmental organisation spreading and strengthening democracies worldwide, has commended members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) participating in the general elections “for their extra-ordinary commitment and neutrality in the election process.”
The commendation came as The Guardian learnt that former Slovenian Prime Minister and current Member of Parliament, Janez Jansa, is leading a team of election observers to Nigeria to monitor this Saturday’s presidential election.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, who raised the hope for better polls conduct yesterday while playing host the European Union (EU) parliamentary delegation, noted that despite the disappointment that trailed the botched April 2 National Assembly elections, Nigerians have not lost faith in democracy as the best form of expression.
Jega told the EU delegation that all the materials to be used for tomorrow’s elections had been delivered to the states and “reports reaching us indicate that most of the states have started deploying those materials to their far-flung areas.”
He said despite the accolades that greeted last Saturday’s National Assembly polls, there were still challenges, which were identified at the commission’s management meeting on Tuesday with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Some of the challenges, he listed, include late coming to the polling units by electoral officials and late commencement of polling activities.
Jega, who said accreditation of voters would be improved upon so as to inject a greater efficiency that will facilitate crowd control, pledged that the logistics challenges that marred last Saturday’s election, such as transportation, would be improved upon during tomorrow’s election.
Jega described as embarrassing a situation whereby voters with genuine voter’s card could not find their names on the register, promising that this would be avoided because serious measures have been taken in that direction. He warned against failure by returning officers to paste the result as demanded by the electoral guidelines.
“Every polling unit, once results are declared, should ensure that they are pasted for the people to see. This will bring additional credibility to the process. Besides, people should ensure that this is complied with, because it is a necessary provision,” the INEC boss said.
President Jonathan yesterday met the election observers from the African Union (AU), European Union (EU) and ECOWAS, urging Nigerians to turn-out en-masse tomorrow to vote for the candidates of their choice.
He told Mr. John Kufuor, former Ghanaian President and leader of the African Union (AU) Election Observation Mission to the Nigerian presidential elections at the State House, Abuja that the “Federal Government will not interfere with INEC or the electoral process, but will support the electoral body and security agencies to deliver credible, free and fair elections.”
Earlier, Kufuor said the 40-man AU Election Observation Mission, in Nigeria to observe the presidential elections, was deployed to four political zones, and would depart next week after discharging their duty.
Also yesterday, Jonathan received leaders of two other election observation missions: former Prime Minister of Slovenia, Mr. Alojz Peterle, leading the 140-man European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission, and Prof. Amos Sawyer, former President of Liberia, at the head of the 300-man ECOWAS Election Observer Mission. He assured both delegations of his personal and Federal Government’s commitment to free and fair elections, expressing confidence in the capacity of INEC and the security agencies to check desperate politicians who may want to derail the process.
In his comments, Peterle said they were pleased with the “peaceful, positive” elections held last Saturday, assuring President Jonathan that their “reports will be based on our own personal observations, not rumours.” On his part, Sawyer said they were impressed by the measures emplaced to strengthen the electoral process in Nigeria, especially the “new vitality and heightened integrity” of the electoral body, adding that ECOWAS is looking forward to credible and successful elections in Nigeria as a yardstick for other countries in the sub-region.
The head of the NDI election monitoring group and former Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Joe Clark, praised the corps members during a courtesy visit to the Director General of the NYSC, Brig.-Gen. Muharazu Tsiga, in Abuja yesterday.
“Thanks for building a youths’ corps service that is doing greatly for Nigeria. We’ve had opportunity to see the corps at work in the field. NYSC demonstrated extra-ordinary neutrality and commitment. They contributed to the integrity of this election and this view is widely shared,” he said. According to him, it was a great idea to have involved the youths, who will in the future, shape the destiny of the nation.
Tsiga, in response, assured the team that the scheme would do everything possible to ensure that Nigeria had a credible, free and fair election.
But it is not so much optimism in the camp of the All Nigeria Peoples party (ANPP), whose National Chairman, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu yesterday deplored what he called uneven system play field, which is skewed in favour of the incumbent leader.
Receiving a delegation of the NDI, Onu said for instance that there would be no free and fair election if the incumbent occupant of a contested seat uses all state resources to execute his or her campaign to the detriment of others. He challenged development partners to show keen interest in how to reform such system.
Onu, urged the NDI delegation, which included a former Nigerien President, Hammane Ousmanne to extend its work beyond election monitoring, to ensure that public trust is not abused. He cited instances of South East and South- South parts of the country where monetary inducement is allegedly very rampant.
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