Fears Of 2015: Jega Talks About If Elections’ll Hold In Adamawa, Borno, Yobe

The Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, has maintained that
elections will hold in the Northeast region
of Nigeria, despite the spate of insecurity.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Atahiru Jega,
specifically noted that if elections could
hold in more volatile Afghanistan and Iraq,
they can hold in the troubled Northeast,
which has been plagued by Boko Haram
insurgency.
Jega spoke at a meeting with members of
the Senate Committee on INEC on creation
of polling units in the Northeast, Thursday.
The INEC boss noted that while it would be
unreasonable to underestimate the
security situation in Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa states, elections could still hold
in the three states.
Jega insisted that there was nothing
unusual about the increase in the number
of polling units.
The increase, he said, was based on
prevailing needs.
His word: "We are having displacement of
people, with people leaving where they
live to live in camps; it is a serious
challenge.
"Nobody can underestimate it, but the
hope of everybody in this country is that
this is a temporary problem and you
cannot begin to plan long term based on a
temporary thing".
Jega said elections were held in several
unstable nations, "including countries which
are having problems like ours in terms of
security; take Afgahnistan, take Iraq and so
on".
"We hope and pray that states where
emergency is will stabilise sufficiently for
us to be able to conduct elections that are
relatively peaceful in those areas and we
must plan for that eventuality", he added.
INEC, according to Jega, is obliged to
prepare for elections in all parts of Nigeria,
even where there are displaced people, as
long as there are registered voters.



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