Commission [INEC] that no soldiers will be available to provide
security anywhere in the country if it goes ahead with its plans to
hold the presidential elections on Saturday next week because they are
too busy with operations in the North East region.
According to DailyTrust, the commission is expected to table this
position, which has created for it a huge dilemma, at meetings planned
for this morning with registered political parties, civil society
groups and its resident electoral commissioners before it announces
its final decision on whether or not to go ahead with the polls as
scheduled.
Weekly Trust learnt yesterday that while all national attention was
focused on last Thursday's meeting of the National Council of State
which failed to reach a consensus on whether or not the polls should
be shifted, the military service chiefs had already advised INEC in
writing to postpone the polls for at least six weeks.
The letter was sent to INEC chairman Professor Attahiru Jega on
Wednesday by the President's National Security Adviser Colonel Sambo
Dasuki. The NSA said he was "strongly advising" INEC to postpone the
polls on the basis of a letter which he received from Chief of Defence
Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh.
Badeh's letter to the NSA, which he said had the concurrence of all
the service chiefs, said the military had just launched a major
effort with the collaboration of Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republic to
rid the North East region of Boko Haram insurgents once and for all.
He said while the operation lasts, it will not be possible to hold
elections in Adamawa, Yobe, Borno and Gombe states. The CDS therefore
advised the NSA to advise INEC to either defer elections in the four
states or alternatively to postpone elections throughout the country
for at least six weeks. He indicated that the military preferred the
second option.
Weekly Trust learnt that when the INEC chairman made his presentation
at the Council of State meeting, he essentially said INEC was ready to
go ahead with the polls as planned. He however added that INEC had
received a new security report which could change the equation but did
not elaborate on it. Afterwards, the NSA briefed the council and
restated the military brass' call for an election postponement while
the operation in the North East lasts.
When Army Chief Lt Gen Kenneth Minimah was asked to speak, sources
said he added another joker. He said if INEC decides to go ahead with
the polls next week there will be no soldiers available anywhere to
provide election security. Director General of the State Security
Service then followed up by warning that Boko Haram's terrorist
ambitions are national and not just regional. He said the service
recently caught terrorists in Abuja and Uyo as they were planning to
carry out major attacks. He strongly supported the call for election
postponement.
APC presidential candidate General Muhammadu Buhari spoke against
election postponement, saying as a military man himself he knew that
the arrival of new weapons alone could not end the Boko Haram carnage
because the weapons have to be unpacked and tested and the personnel
must be trained to handle them. His position was supported by all the
APC governors notably Rochas Okorocha and Rauf Aregbesola.
However, Vice President Mohamed Namadi Sambo said he did not believe
that INEC was ready to conduct the elections next week, saying its
chairman's report failed to align systems and timing. All the PDP
governors then supported Sambo, saying more time was needed to enable
Nigerians collect their permanent voters' cards.
General Ibrahim Babangida then spoke, saying the INEC chairman should
explain if it was okay to hold the elections in the rest of the
country without the four troubled states. General Yakubu Gowon and
General Abdulsalami Abubakar both supported IBB's view but President
Goodluck Jonathan brushed the suggestion aside, saying he would not
allow elections to be held without the North East states. If that
happened, he said, it would lend support to the charge that he allowed
the Boko Haram to fester or even created it in order to disenfranchise
a part of the country. The meeting ended after eight hours with the
president saying INEC heard all the views expressed and should go and
consult before making its final decision known to the public.
Weekly Trust learnt last night that the commission has scheduled a
series of meetings for today.
--Laila's Blog
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