Distractions Must Not Deter Us, Jega Tells RECs

                     

Barely two weeks to the 2015 general elections, scheduled for March 28th and April 11th, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, on Wednesday charged his Resident Electoral Commissioner (RECs) to be steadfast in the face of distractions as the Commission will settle for nothing but the best elections.

The INEC chairman, who spoke at a meeting with the RECs, held at the Commission’s headquarters, demanded focus and resilience in the face of those distractions. He described the meeting as an opportunity to examine closely whether there were still gaps in the commission’s preparations that needed to be taken care of within the next two weeks to keep on adding value to the elections.“


We need to do everything possible to make sure that the elections scheduled for March 28th and April 11th are indeed substantially much better than those we conducted in 2011 and the subsequent bye-elections in some states”, he declared. Professor Jega called for continued engagement with stakeholders in order to meet the aspirations of Nigerians.

He said: “We need to continue to engage all stakeholders, to inform them, provide information, enlighten them and carry them along, because the contribution and support of everybody is necessary for having the best elections that Nigerians want”. The INEC boss reiterated the need for all hands to be on deck, and again urged contestants and parties to play by the rules and abide by the peace accord, which was signed at different levels.

“Everybody has a role to play in ensuring free, fair, and credible and peaceful elections,” he declared. “In particular, we want to urge candidates and political parties to contribute and engage in the process, within the legal framework and in the context and code of conduct which they have all signed”. He reassured that Nigerians that the members of the commission were all doing their best, and expressed the confidence that will be good enough to meet the aspirations of Nigerians in terms of free fair and credible elections.