10th April, 2011
How are you going to address the feeling of disappointment over the postponement of last Saturday polls?
What happened is unfortunate. It has happened and we can understand people feeling very disappointed. What we will do is that we will do our best to revive hope and confidence in the process and we are doing our best in that regard. What is gratifying is that while there are many people who feel disappointed and skeptical, there are equally many people who feel sympathetic and still confident that we can pull it through. So, we will do our best to satisfy the aspiration of Nigerians for free, fair and credible elections. We believe as a commission that given the challenges that we faced in proceeding with Saturday elections, it is better to postpone the elections than to have a very, very terribly flawed elections. And basically that was what guided our decision. Obviously, Nigerians are very anxious and highly mobilized and had high expectations and many were disappointed that the elections did not take place. But we would have even been more worried with disappointments if the elections had taken place and they were terribly flawed. So, we plead for understanding, we plead that nobody should lose hope in the process; we have to keep hope alive and we have to all of us together continue to work to ensure the success of these elections.
What are you going to do to the contractor who failed to deliver the voting materials?
The contractor has signed a contract, the contract has clauses and these clauses are legally binding and we are pursuing all of these legal avenues. On matters of contract, you have to be very, very careful and our reluctance to reveal the name of the contractor is part of that caution in order not to do anything that can be prejudicial or that can have negative impact in terms of our ability to ensure the execution of the clauses and provisions in the contract. So, we are finalizing the legal procedures that we have to take under these circumstances.
Is INEC employing the services of local printers for the printing of the election materials?
Yesterday, until around 11 pm, we were discussing with the best local printers in this country; trying to find out their capacity, to find out what they can deliver within a very limited time frame and in particular, to see whether there is any of these constituencies where we can get the ballot papers produced and delivered so that we can reduce the number of the constituencies where elections may not take place on Saturday. But unfortunately, after those discussions, because of so many reasons, we came to the conclusion that what is worth doing is worth doing well and that the best things under the circumstances, all things considered, is to use two weeks to now be able to produce the ballot papers for the elections in those constituencies to take place. We do not want to rush it, commit a lot of expenditures and then in the end still be disappointed next Saturday. Next Saturday is just two days away. Our discussion with local contractors was limited to whether they could supply by Saturday and our own assessment of those discussions and deliberations is that it is a big risk to take and also a very costly one. So, that is why we decided that we will postpone elections in these particular places and we have two weeks within which even if we use local contractors they have enough time to deliver. Then, if for any reason, we have to use any foreign companies, they will still have time to deliver, but that is a decision that we would make very, very quickly in order to address this matter once and for all.
What are you doing to ensure movement and materials to polling stations across the country early enough so as to avoid delays witnessed last Saturday?
Obviously, one of the most important issues we discussed in our meeting with the resident electoral commissioners which by the way was very cordial and was very, very productive, even though we read so many media reports, some people say there was a deadlock, others say there was sort of confusion, what was reported was far from the truth. Of course, we sat down, we did an objective analysis and assessment of what happened on Saturday and we told ourselves the truth. And we said we don’t want those problems to be repeated next Saturday. So, we identified everything that needed to be done to bring remarkable improvement when the elections hold next Saturday. So, I don’t know where you get the information; some of you are relying on all sorts of sources that are either not credible or that are trying to throw spanners into the works by creating an impression of division where none exists. But we had a good meeting, an excellent meeting and we discussed what are the best strategies that we can use to ensure that our people actually arrive in the polling units on time, so that if we say voting will commence at eight o’clock in virtually every place, voting does take place at eight o’clock. So, we have done our best, we have deployed other methods, we have taken a look at the transportation system, and the logistics deployments, we are getting additional security cover and we have decentralized the process of deployment of materials at the last minute and we prayed all these will arrive to something positive come next Saturday.
What about the skepticism on the part of some political parties about holding elections in some places and not others?
Well, I will be surprised and I will like to know which parties because when we met on Sunday, all the chairmen of the 63 political parties were at that meeting and we told them this. We said we are doing everything possible to see whether we can produce ballot papers and correct the missing logos in good time before the Saturday elections. But we told them if it is not possible to do so, there will be no alternative than to postpone elections in those particular places and reschedule it for another time and all of them accepted that. So, if any party is saying anything different, we would like to know who they are so that we can also engage them to understand why they are saying so.
How will you address skepticism on the part of the international community?
Obviously, everybody was concerned, everybody felt disappointed with the postponement. Look at the international observers, so many of them have deployed already and there are additional costs of time and resources for them because of the postponement. I have met virtually with most the leaders of the delegations who have arrived before Saturday election after the postponement and they have shown concern, they have asked questions, we have offered clarifications, everybody is sympathetic and to be honest, I haven’t seen any indication of skepticism. They are concerned, they want us to succeed, and they are even asking if there is anything they can do to positively contribute to the success of this exercise. It is the same message we have received from the diplomatic missions of the countries deployed here. There may still be some people who are skeptical or who are worried, but I don’t think that that skepticism is wide ranging in the way you probably think.
What measures have you put in place to address some of the transportation challenges witnessed in conveying men and materials to polling stations across the country by your staff?
Obviously, when we prepared for all the series of the elections, we make transportation arrangements. First of all, we have bought additional vehicles over and above the vehicles that INEC had during the 2007 elections. As I speak with you now, we have additional 600 four wheel drive vehicles that we have deployed. Our objective was to get one to each local government area, but there are 774 local government areas, we haven’t achieved that objective. In addition to these vehicles which complement the additional vehicles that we have, we have also provided money for transportation of men and materials both from the state offices to the local government offices, from the local government offices to the ward areas collation centre’s where materials will be distributed to the polling units. So, we have provided these resources. They may not be enough resources, but we believe when managed efficiently, it would address most of the challenges of transportation. It is unfortunate that in spite of this, in some places, we have seen on tv how in some places where private vehicles were used. It is unfortunate; we discussed it extensively during the meeting on Tuesday in order to avoid it from happening again. It is true that there were reports of movements of men and materials on motorcycles and so on. Well, in capital cities like Abuja which is motorable, obviously, it is a misnomer to see materials being conveyed on motorcycles. But there are areas of very rough terrain in many parts of this country, including environs of Abuja where you cannot but move materials on motorcycles or in some places, even on camels just to ensure that they get to the places on time. So, frankly, while we should not be happy seeing people moving with motorcycles in a place like Abuja, we should recognise that in certain places that is the best mode of transportation that can take men and materials in good time to be where they ought to be. So, we have discusses these issues and we are doing our best to see that there is remarkable improvement in transportation, in deployment and logistics next Saturday. Almost virtually all the states have mobilized by the time the postponement was announced. So, we have to commit additional resources for the rescheduled elections in order to pay for the ad hoc staff and the additional cost of transportation. It is unfortunate, but these are also necessary costs that have to be incurred in order to ensure that the elections take place. I think there is no over emphasizing the fact that for the success of this election, inspite of everything that we as INEC have done, and in spite of everything that the security agencies are trying to do, we have to ensure that the communities and the voters themselves contribute positively to the success of this exercise. So, we plead with Nigerians and with voters; we have to eschew violence, we have to show peaceful conduct and we must ensure that if we choose to stay in the polling unit to observe the counting, we are orderly, and we are not disruptive, Even, when we queue up for the accreditation system, it is important that we are orderly so that we did not create unnecessary delays. In particular, we must emphasize and we want to urge all community leaders and religious leaders to ensure that the phenomenon of underage registration is addressed. A situation in which people who are 12 or 13 years come out brazenly and join the queue to be accredited when everybody knows that it is an illegal thing to do really has to be addressed. The security agencies have to address this problem and we have been discussing with them what to do next Saturday and subsequent elections. But community leaders and community elders also have to cooperate to ensure that whoever comes to the polling unit, who is not supposed to be there, should either be arrested for loitering or if he has a card and attempts to do underage voting, he should be arrested and there are laws that apply to them in that regard.
