Elections may not hold in all parts of the troubled three states in the North-East zone of the country, the Independent National Electoral Commission’s chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has said.
Jega said in Abuja on Monday that elections might not hold in some parts of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in the North-East unless security situation in the affected states improves.
He said, “A place like Borno State, unless something is done about those that have been displaced, even return for the governorship might be difficult, if not impossible, under the circumstances.
“To be realistic, we must say that it may be impossible to do elections in everywhere, in every local government, in every constituency in those three states.”
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states have been under emergency rule since May, 2103 due to the activities of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
The sect continues to bomb and kill in the three states despite government’s efforts to curb insurgency in the zone. In fact, some parts of the affected states have been taken over by the insurgents.
The revelation by Jega, who spoke at a forum organised by the African Policy Research Institute in Abuja, contradicted earlier assurance by INEC that it was prepared to conduct elections in all the states of the federation, including the three states under emergency rule.
On internally-displaced persons in the troubled states, the INEC boss said they would participate in the elections.
“We know that there are many internally-displaced persons in Nigeria but our focus is going to be on the North-East zone and it will only be for the internally-displaced persons that are in the states.”
At the forum, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, called for caution among politicians.
Meanwhile, a socio-political group, the Change Coalition of Nigeria, has called on INEC to allow Nigerians to use the Temporary Voter Cards alongside the Permanent Voter Cards to exercise their franchise in the coming elections.
The National Chairman of the CCN, Mr. Abayomi Adegoke, said this while briefing journalists in Osogbo on Tuesday.
He said that many Nigerians would be disenfranchised if the electoral body insisted that only the PVC would be used for the 2015 polls.
“This is six weeks to the election and millions of registered voters are yet to collect their PVCs. They (INEC) should allow those who have permanent voter cards to vote and those who have temporary voter cards should also be allow to vote. This will ensure that no registered voter is disenfranchised,” Adegoke said. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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