The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission have insisted that despite the precarious security situation in the country, elections must hold next year.
While Tambuwal disclosed this today when he received the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Austine Alegeh(SAN) and his entourage at the National Assembly. The INEC boss informed the leadership of the senate that the elections will hold as scheduled.
Tambuwal said comments suggesting a possible rescheduling of the 2015 elections because of the insecurity in the country, saying: “We are about to go into elections and some people are already saying that there may be no elections. But I firmly believe that we are going to have elections. The 2015 elections should be held.
“I firmly believe we can go into election. The problem now is that governance is suffering at various levels as many elected public office holders are already in politicking mood. You have to blow the whistle that people are running fowl of the law,” the Speaker noted.
Jega, while responding to questions from members of the Senator Andy Uba-led Senate Committee on INEC today said nothing will stop next year elections from holding.
The INEC chairman also explained the rationale behind the commission’s decision to create 30,000 additional polling units as part of preparations for the elections.
The INEC chairman explained that while the security situation in the area could not be underestimated, elections could still hold in the three affected states.
According to him, if elections could hold in more volatile areas, it could hold in Nigeria’s North-East, where the situation is being brought under control.
Jega further explained that there was nothing unusual about the increase in the number of polling units across the country because it was done based on need.
He reiterated that the distribution of the 30,000 additional units was based on the number of registered voters in a just and equitable manner.
