THE chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, told the Senate, on Wednesday, that extending the voter registration by one week would cost the country N6.6 billion just as added that the country made gains from the money appropriated for the purchase of the Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines.
However, the Senate extended the registration by four weeks, but with a warning to Jega that his reputation is at stake over the ongoing voter registration.
President of the Senate, Mr David Mark, who delivered the Senate’s stance while Jega appeared before the senators at plenary session to defend the lapses that have characterised the exercise, said that Nigerians were eager to participate in the voter registration.
Senator Mark said that though Jega was on the hot seat, he should not contemplate resigning because it was not advisable to quit in the middle of the battle. He also told the INEC boss that the credibility of politicians were also at stake and that they were ready for the conduct of credible elections.
Mark said: “Your reputation is at stake. I would advise you not to resign because you cannot threaten to quit in the middle of the battle. Politicians are also determined to win elections creditably because our own reputation is at stake.
“I would advise you to move out of your office and see what happens in the field. We are reasonably reassured that the exercise isn’t where it’s supposed to be, but we are reassured that you are taking steps to rectify that.”
Jega, who was grilled by senators for nearly three hours, also assured the nation that he was ready to make a success of the assignment. He stated that he had never told anyone that he would resign, adding that he took the job so that he could make a success of the job.
The Senate also passed an amendment to the 2010 Electoral Act to enable INEC to extend the voter registration period.
He declared: “l have never threatened to resign. When I accepted the job, I said I would give it all my best. The issue of resignation, I have never said I will succeed; my commissioners are all behind me.”
Jega said that reports he had received so far showed that by the end of work on Wednesday, the commission would have registered about 30 million Nigerians.
He said: “As I speak to you now sir, the average registration per day is about 4.3 million. So we did our projections from those statistics that we have that if we have additional one week just to cover the initial problems that we have, we should be able to register every Nigerian that comes out to register.
“Unfortunately sir, one of the contractors disappointed us, but as of two days ago, we now have all the machines delivered to us and we have them delivered to the states. But there are still some polling units which have not been reached but every state, except Kwara unfortunately, which even in the next two hours, will get their own; every state except Kwara, has received the full complement of their DDC machines plus the 10 per cent extra which we believe can be used to complement other places where there is none.”
He also said that the commission required a one week extension to the registration.
Jega said: “From our own projection as I speak with you now sir, if the Electoral Act is properly amended, we believe that if we have an extension of one week from the 29th to the 5th of February, God willing, we will be able to register every registrable Nigerian.
“The constraints we have as the provision of the Electoral Act stands now, is that we have to finish all registrations latest 60 days to the election which is latest by the second week of February. So as it stands now unless there is an amendment to the Electoral Act, we cannot do much extension beyond four days. That is between the 29th [January] to the second of February.
“But if the National Assembly graciously amends the provision of the constitution, if we have an extension of an additional one week, we believe, sir, that we will be able to finish this exercise very successfully. We have all the projections.
“The reports reaching us from the fields, sir, are that there are initial problems. First of all on the day that we commenced the registration, only 11,000 out of 132,000 direct capture machines has been delivered, but only about 120,000 have been deployed in the polling units.
“There were additional problems with the setting of the finger printing machine from the first day where we discovered that the setting was very high and that setting was for the highest standard of fingerprints for forensic purpose and election is not a forensic matter, that is why we have these difficulties because the scanners are sensitive. If you have any problem with your finger, whether it is stained with oil or whatsoever, it will refuse to accept you. So the first day was a disaster because the machine was just rejecting anybody that came to register.”
On substandard machines, Jega assured the senators that the commission would get it right.
He stated: “Because we expect that when machines are bought, some of them will arrive dead on arrival. After all has been done, you may still plug them and they will pack up. In the context that we are working. When they pack up, the contractors are there. They are replacing them.
Right now as I speak with you from the statistics that we have, there are not up to 1,000 equipment that have packed up nationwide.
“If you deploy 120,000 machines and less than 1,000 have broken down, how can you say that they are substandard? I stand to be corrected, but I want to know anywhere in this world where what we are doing has been attempted. Where 120,000 machines have been deployed at one time and the situation is going on perfectly.
“There are people that have concluded in their minds that this exercise will fail and they have the answer. So, if they hear that one DDC machine has broken down, it is assumed that the whole thing is failing. I believe that there are problems but they are normal problems and we are working to address them.”
The contracts approved included the building of three waste transfer stations at Mpape, Apo and Kubwa, awarded to Messrs Goodness International Resources Ltd, for N2,957,572,096.35, with completion period of 12 months.
There was also the N6,664,244,869.17 contract for phase II to provide primary engineering infrastructure to Mbora district, which covered 634 hectares and where private developers had gone far in providing houses but without a corresponding provision of infrastructure. It was awarded to Messrs Sammya Nigeria Limited to be completed in 36 months.
Contract for the reconstruction of Lower Usman Dam to Gurara Dam was awarded to S.C.C. Nigeria Limited for N13,840,383,768.75 and would, on completion, ease access to maintenance of the facilities which provided water to the FCT and alternative shorter route to Kaduna.
FEC similarly approved the purchase of five Mercedes Benz 1518 model fire fighting trucks in favour of Messrs Cospam Nigeria Limited for N195,825,000, expected to be delivered in eight weeks.
According to the Minister of Information and Communications, Labaran Maku, who also briefed the correspondents, President Goodluck Jonathan had directed that all ongoing dam projects be completed in order to boost agriculture in the area.
Other major decisions included the completion of dams in the northern part of the country and the building of national public key directory for the Nigerian Immigration, which would interface e-passport data from 36 states of the federation to the World Centre in Singapore.
Also speaking, Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga, spoke on the successes his team recorded with the offering of the 500 million Eurobond which was oversubscribed by 2.6 per cent and its attendant gains for cheap finance for Nigerians in business.
He said the oversubscription of the Eurobond by 65 internationally acclaimed investors from 18 countries around the world was an expression of confidence in the Nigerian economy, especially with the successful conclusion of the presidential primaries which had removed concerns about political risk to investments.
Meanwhile, foreign investors are to inject over $5 billion in the building of 37-storey World Trade Centre in Abuja, Abuja Boulevard, film village, Botanical garden and $1 billion Housing for Africa project, among others.Oyo declares tomorrow public holiday.
In another development, the Oyo State government has declared tomorrow as work free day to enable its workers to register in the ongoing voter registration.
In a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Layiwola Olakojo, the public holiday affected banks, institutions and civil servants.
INEC sacks 15 NYSC members in Zamfara
The INEC has sacked 15 members of the National Youth Service Commission (NYSC) in Zamfara State, for allegedly circumventing the rules of the ongoing voter registration in the state.
The INEC legal adviser in the state, Malam Abdulazeez Sani, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau, on Wednesday, that the disengaged corps members included Ekundayo Oloritine and Chioma Okeke, caught doing the registration at illegal centres.
He said the 15 affected registration officers complained to INEC that they would go for religious worship on Sunday and, as such, could not work, but unknown to INEC, the corps members took the DDC machines and conducted registration unofficially at some places of worship.
Sani said it was when people queued up at registration centres in Galadima, Madaki and Tudun Wada wards in Gusau that INEC beamed its searchlight on the whereabouts of the registration officers.
He said the corps members were finally caught when they attempted to print out registration cards for those they registered at the “illegal” centres.
The INEC official said the 15 corps members had since been disengaged and replaced with reserved registration officers to man the affected polling units.
Commenting on the incident, the state coordinator of the NYSC, Mrs Lois Meller, confirmed the incident, but declined further comments, saying that “the issue is before the security agencies.”
Meanwhile the state police command has said two of the affected corps members were under investigation at the state CID.
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