Nigeria Content Online

Attahiru Jega, the chairman of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday, solicited
the cooperation of the National Population Commission (NPC) in the
effective discharge of the 2011 general elections.

Mr. Jega, who made the appeal when he
led a team of INEC commissioners to the premises of the NPC, stated
that it had become necessary for INEC to seek a partnership with the
NPC because of the huge scale of organisation required.

The chairman explained that some
members of the NPC were already workers in the ongoing voters’
registration exercise. He also said the commission had requested the
use of the NPC’s storage facilities to keep its materials during the
elections.

“INEC is out to partner with several bodies, because everybody is interested in seeing that every vote counts,” Mr. Jega said.

“The fact that the commission has
announced a timetable for elections shows our level of readiness and
commitment to the exercise,” he added.

Aid to INEC

The chairman of the NPC, Ismail Danko
Makama, said INEC can use the NPC’s council offices in 36 states and
the FCT, as ancillary operational bases. He told Mr. Jega and his team
that the NPC has the demographic profiles of everyone in the country
from the 2006 census and sample surveys conducted, which could be
useful to INEC. He also promised that INEC can use the commission’s
vehicles for the movement of the materials during the elections.

“The scanning technology of the NPC,
which they use to detect fake documents and identify multiple data
entry, could be useful by INEC in detecting electoral fraud and other
malpractices,” Mr. Makama said.

“[The] commission has well-equipped data processing centres across
the country that can assist INEC during the elections, and we will not
hesitate to come to their aid in whatever form they deem necessary,” he
said.