INEC Expresses Firm Commitment To Election Date

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Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja; & Sunday Isuwa, Kaduna
SHOULD the coming general elections hold in Feb?ruary as scheduled in view of the challenges being asso?ciated with the distribution of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs)?
The Independent Nation?al Electoral Commission (INEC), on Tuesday, said the challenges were surmount?able and expressed firm com?mitment to the election date.
However, the controversy is yet to abate, as calls for a shift in polls continued to be met by stiff rejection.
Representatives of po?litical parties, who met with INEC on Tuesday flatly rejected any shift in the timetable. In Kaduna, elder statesman Alhaji Balarabe Musa expressed support for the shift. A similar view was expressed by other el?der statesmen at a meeting of the Afenifere Renewal Group. Among them were the leader of the Afenifere?s parent body, Chief Reuben Fasoranti; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae and Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.
In his keynote address at the meeting with the politi?cal parties in Abuja, INEC?s chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, insisted on the use of PVCs for the elections.
According to him, the PVCs is the best way to au?thenticate the electoral pro?cess.
He said the meeting was an opportunity not only for INEC to brief the parties on its preparations, but to also listen to their concerns and observations so that INEC can take them into account in its final preparations for the polls.
INEC said only persons with Permanent Voters Card would be allow to vote in the election.
The parties rejected any attempt to postpone the elec?tions and demanded concrete statement from INEC that the elections hold as scheduled.
The representatives of the parties warned, sternly, that they were not ready to accept any excuses on the postpone?ment of the polls.
A representative of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who spoke on behalf of others, warned that no one should interfere with the date for the conduct of the elections.
He said: ?First of all, we want INEC to make a state?ment, a very clear statement, that the dates-14th and 28th are sacrosanct.
No one should interfere with the conduct of the elec?tion on the 14th and 28th of February. We want INEC to double its efforts to make sure that all voters get their PVCs before the elections.
?We want INEC to im?prove on voter education but we will play our role. And I hope other parties will also do the same thing?, he stated.
Baba-Ahmed, who is a for?mer INEC Secretary, added: ?We want to partner with them (INEC) in resolving some of these challenges?.
The Chairman of the In?ter Party Committee (IPAC), Dr. Yunusa Tanko urged the Federal Government to de?clare a three-day public holi?day for collection of PVCs.
Tanko reasoned that this would enable registered voters go out to collect their cards.
The first elected governor of the old Kaduna State, Al?haji Abdulkadir Balarabe called for a shift of the elec?tions.
Speaking at the launching of four books written by the 1st National Vice President of the Nigeria Labour Con?gress (NLC), Comrade Issa Aremu in Kaduna, Balarabe Musa said next month?s elec?tions should be shifted to al?low INEC prepare very well.

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