Military service chiefs have told the
Independent National Electoral
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. Professor Jega and
his commissioners will meet with
political party representatives at 10 am,
meet with civil society groups at noon,
meet with Resident Electoral
Commissioners [RECs] at 2 pm and then
hold a full meeting of the commission at
4pm. Afterwards, INEC would announce
its final decision to the public.
Informed sources told Weekly Trust that
contrary to the impression created by
many newspapers yesterday that the
Council of State okayed the polls to go
ahead next week, the military service
chiefs’ “strong advice” to INEC to
postpone the polls could be the game
changer. The sources said it was difficult
to see how elections could go ahead with
security agencies washing their hands
off the provision of security but the final
decision would only be known this
afternoon.
