The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has said he cannot guarantee elections will hold as rescheduled.
Rather, Jega said it is now heavily dependent on the military.
Speaking when he appeared before the Senate on Wednesday, Jega said the Commission had done its part of the job and was now waiting on the military to give the go ahead for the elections to be conducted.
He said this following a question by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, on the preparedness of INEC to conduct the elections as rescheduled for March 28 and April 11.
He said only the military could determine the sanctity of the dates.
Jega said: “Senator George Akume asked me to state categorically whether I can guarantee the sanctity of the March 28 and April 11 dates for the general election.
“I think it is a very difficult question to answer.
“I have said consistently that there are things under the control of the electoral commission and there are things that are not under its control.
“For things that are under our control, I can give definite and categorical assurances.
“On what is not under our control, it is futile.
“It is fruitless and useless to give a definite guarantee on them.
“I think that question should be directed appropriately.
“The questions of security, I will leave it.
“I don’t think I am competent to answer it sufficiently.”
Jega, however, urged Nigerians to also be fair to the military.
He however did acknowledge that any further shift in date would be “unconstitutional”.
“I don’t see how anybody can contemplate any extension beyond these six weeks because there are no constitutional grounds on which you can do that,” Jega said in testimony to the Senate.
Jega told the chamber that INEC was prepared to hold the vote on the original polling dates of February 14 and 18 but was persuaded to support a delay by guidance from the country’s security chiefs.
National Security Advisor, Sambo Dasuki, and military top brass said soldiers would not be able provide election security nationwide because they were fighting Boko Haram in the northeast.
Asked how he would respond if the security agencies requested a further delay, Jega referred to a constitutional provision that requires elections to be concluded at least 30 days before May 29, when a new government must be sworn in.
“Every Nigerian knows we want elections to hold… within a constitutional timeframe,” he told senators.
“The security agencies are (made up of) patriotic Nigerians. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.”
But he added that a further delay “will only have to be unconstitutional and I don’t see how anybody can contemplate unconstitutional things”.
There were widespread accusations that the
