WE WON'T PROVIDE SECURITY FOR ELECTION UNLESS IT IS POSTPONED, SAYS NIGERIA ARMY

Commission makes final decision today
Military service chiefs have told the Independent
National Electoral Commission [INEC] that no
soldiers will be available to provide security
anywhere in the country if it goes ahead with its
plans to hold the presidential elections on
Saturday next week because they are too busy
with operations in the North East region. The
commission is expected to table this position,
which has created for it a huge dilemma, at
meetings planned for this morning with registered
political parties, civil society groups and its
resident electoral commissioners before it
announces its final decision on whether or not to
go ahead with the polls as scheduled.
Weekly Trust learnt yesterday that while all
national attention was focused on last Thursday’s
meeting of the National Council of State which
failed to reach a consensus on whether or not the
polls should be shifted, the military service chiefs
had already advised INEC in writing to postpone
the polls for at least six weeks. The letter, Weekly
Trust learnt, was sent to INEC chairman
Professor Attahiru Jega on Wednesday by the
President’s National Security Adviser Colonel
Sambo Dasuki. The NSA said he was “strongly
advising” INEC to postpone the polls on the basis
of a letter which he received from Chief of
Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh.
Badeh’s letter to the NSA, which he said had the
concurrence of all the service chiefs, said the
military had just launched a major effort with the
collaboration of Chad, Cameroon and Niger
Republic to rid the North East region of Boko
Haram insurgents once and for all. He said while
the operation lasts, it will not be possible to hold
elections in Adamawa, Yobe, Borno and Gombe
states. The CDS therefore advised the NSA to
advise INEC to either defer elections in the four
states or alternatively to postpone elections
throughout the country for at least six weeks. He
indicated that the military preferred the second
option.
Weekly Trust learnt that when the INEC chairman
made his presentation at the Council of State
meeting, he essentially said INEC was ready to go
ahead with the polls as planned. He however
added that INEC had received a new security
report which could change the equation but did
not elaborate on it. Afterwards, the NSA briefed
the council and restated the military brass’ call
for an election postponement while the operation
in the North East lasts. When Army Chief Lt Gen
Kenneth Minimah was asked to speak, sources
said he added another joker. He said if INEC
decides to go ahead with the polls next week
there will be no soldiers available anywhere to
provide election security. Director General of the
State Security Service then followed up by
warning that Boko Haram’s terrorist ambitions
are national and not just re

gional. He said the
service recently caught terrorists in Abuja and
Uyo as they were planning to carry out major
attacks. He strongly supported the call for
election postponement.
Weekly Trust learnt that APC presidential
candidate General Muhammadu Buhari spoke
against election postponement, saying as a
military man himself he knew that the arrival of
new weapons alone could not end the Boko
Haram carnage because the weapons have to be
unpacked and tested and the personnel must be
trained to handle them. His position was
supported by all the APC governors notably
Rochas Okorocha and Rauf Aregbesola. However,
Vice President Mohamed Namadi Sambo said he
did not believe that INEC was ready to conduct
the elections next week, saying its chairman’s
report failed to align systems and timing. All the
PDP governors then supported Sambo, saying
more time was needed to enable Nigerians collect
their permanent voters’ cards.
General Ibrahim Babangida then spoke, saying the
INEC chairman should explain if it was okay to
hold the elections in the rest of the country
without the four troubled states. General Yakubu
Gowon and General Abdulsalami Abubakar both
supported IBB’s view but President Goodluck
Jonathan brushed the suggestion aside, saying he
would not allow elections to be held without the
North East states. If that happened, he said, it
would lend support to the charge that he allowed
the Boko Haram to fester or even created it in
order to disenfranchise a part of the country. The
meeting ended after eight hours with the
president saying INEC heard all the views
expressed and should go and consult before
making its final decision known to the public.
Weekly Trust learnt last night that the
commission has scheduled a series of meetings
for today. Professor Jega and his commissioners
will meet with political party representatives at 10
am, meet with civil society groups at noon, meet
with Resident Electoral Commissioners [RECs] at
2 pm and then hold a full meeting of the
commission at 4pm. Afterwards, INEC would
announce its final decision to the public. Informed
sources told Weekly Trust that contrary to the
impression created by many newspapers
yesterday that the Council of State okayed the
polls to go ahead next week, the military service
chiefs’ “strong advice” to INEC to postpone the
polls could be the game changer. The sources
said it was difficult to see how elections could go
ahead with security agencies washing their hands
off the provision of security but the final decision
would only be known this afternoon.
Source: http://dailytrust.com.ng/weekly/
index.php/top-stories/18981-army-to-inec-no-
security-for-feb-14-poll