Nigeria Content Online

The chairman of the
Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, has announced
the distribution of the direct data capture machines it has received,
to all its offices nationwide.

He said the
commission is mindful of the errors of the past and will set up a call
centre wherein aggrieved people can call in to get rapid response
during the coming 2011 general elections.

Describing the theft of some of the imported equipment for the election at the Murtala Muhammed Airport,

Lagos as a symbol
of systemic failure in governance, Mr. Jega said however that it cannot
affect the activities of the commission as the machines cannot be
useful outside the commission.

Speaking at a round
table talk on “Free and Fair Elections: Citizens Or INEC’s
Responsibility?”, organised by the National Economic Summit Group in
Lagos yesterday, Mr. Jega said that the commission has concluded the
training of trainers. According to him, the machines are carrying INEC
logos and cannot be used by just anybody since each machine, before it
is actually deployed, will be programmed to ensure that it can only be
used by a particular polling unit.

He said that there
are a lot of deficiencies in the system, especially in the logistic of
moving officials and materials to the places of demand during
elections, noting that “Things have been so bad for so long in our
electoral and political processes that we should not be totally
disappointed if we do not attain perfection in the current endeavour.”
He regretted that officers of the commission had to rely on politicians
and political parties to move materials during elections.

We will do better

He said it has
been difficult planning a way out of the challenges, with the
commission still not having enough vehicles to cover the entire routes,
“So what we are trying to do now is to ensure that there is enough
logistic as needed to reduce the incentives or excuses that people will
have to be source of such needs, because we will just start going down.
As time goes on we will do better.” Also, describing the 2011 election
as a period that Nigeria must work hard to get it right, he said that
“Nigerians have aspired and struggled for democracy and have been
continuously frustrated,’’ and that yet, “there is a clear national
consensus in Nigeria today for free, fair and credible elections in
2011 and beyond.”

Stating that the
only concern to the entire country has been how to address the crisis
of leadership and governance, which has be-devilled the country, he
said getting elections right and making votes to count is a major step
in addressing the crisis of governance.

Mr. Jega said that
the challenges towards achieving a credible election is very enormous
for the commission, and wished that it was established at least
eighteen months before the election.

Limited period

According to Mr.
Jega, “INEC was reconstituted in the last week of June and began work
in earnest to actualize the aspiration of Nigerians for free, fair and
credible elections. As a political scientist what I have done is to
look at other countries where election management bodies have been
constituted and I have discovered that on average it takes about
eighteen month for a new commission to be in place before it conducts a
national election.”

Mr. Jega who said
what people call him on the streets now is ‘‘N78.8 billion’’ promised
not to break the law and also to account for every kobo given to the
commission.

The Director
General of the Group, Frank Nweke however applauded the commission’s
chairman for a job well done so far, but urged him to ensure that all
logistical faults that could hinder progress are tackled. He also said
the presidential aspirants would also be brought together soon for a
debate by the group.