Nigeria security adviser suggests postponement of election

Nigeria should delay elections planned for next month to give organisers more time to distribute millions of biometric ID cards to voters, the National Security Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan said on Thursday.

Sambo Dasuki said during a talk at London think-tank Chatham House that he had discussed the matter with the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and had said a delay within the time allowed by the law would be a good idea.
"That is what we are encouraging at the moment," he said.
The elections will be the first where voters have to have a biometric card, introduced to guard against fraud that has plagued past polls.

Dasuki said INEC had distributed 30 million cards in the past year but had another 30 million to hand out.
He said INEC had assured him it would achieve this in time for the February date, but he thought it would make more sense to take more time. He added that there was a 90-day window during which the election could legally take place.

"It costs you nothing, it's still within the law," Dasuki said he had told the INEC chairman.
Dasuki said it was for INEC and not for him to decide.
"What sense does it make to vote three months early when there are 30 million cards still with INEC? That's my position," Dasuki said.

Impressive turnout, upsets likely in N’ Assemby election

Nigerians voted on Saturday heralding the much awaited 2011 general elections amidst unprecedented enthusiasm among the electorates in the main, and indifference and fighting in a few occurrences.
So far, results have shown there could be upsets: many federal lawmakers were set to lose their seats.
Notwithstanding the disappointment and the uproar that greeted the April 2 sudden shift in the National Assembly pol

l that was to herald the beginning of the general elections, reports from across the states indicated huge turn-out of voters.
Residents in Abuja were said to have reported as early as 7.30am at their polling units, for accreditation that started at 8.00am. In Niger State, home to two recent bombing attacks in Suleja, voters were said to have trooped out in large numbers, apparently defying the bombers that they refused to be cowed.
The enthusiasm of the electorate appeared to be matched by the umpires, as the Independent National Electoral Commission deployed materials and officials to the voting centres on time. Largely, there were no reports of inadequate materials or non-availability of officials, as was the case with past polls in Nigeria.
Also, security agents deployed to the streets and polling centres appeared to be coming to terms with the ethos of democracy. They kept to the background and unlike in the past were not part of the problems of voters this time around.
On the flipside were skirmishes recorded in some parts of the country. In Ogume, Ndokwa Local Government Area of Delta State, four youth were reportedly shot dead; another two were killed during a confrontation between thugs of rival political parties in Ughelli.
In Ile-Ife, Osun East constituency, where incumbent Senator Iyiola Omisore contested for the third term at the upper federal legislative chamber, five people were reported killed in Isale-Agbara area when gunmen shot at the residence of a candidate in the election.
In Bayelsa, home state of President Goodluck Jonathan, violence reigned in most parts and there were reports of ballot box hijack in certain polling units.
In Kano, a hunter appeared in his polling unit with a dane gun; shoes were reportedly thrown at Kano State Governor and Presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Ibrahim Shekarau in Kano; and hoodlums armed with machete attempted to hijack the ballot boxes in Odeda, Ogun State.
Apparently unsure of how the day would turn out, voters refused to come out in their large numbers in Akure, Ondo State; Oyo, Oyo State; and in some other parts of the country, even as some voters reportedly trooped out in some of the 63 districts and constituencies where INEC had ruled out voting on Saturday.
While it may be too early to score the 2011 elections, the Saturday poll revealed a significant improvement on the 2003 and 2007 exercises that were characterized by violence, stuffing and hijacking of ballot boxes and shootings at polling units.
Early impression by analysts showed that INEC under Prof. Attahiru Jega, promises a less contentious poll this year, notwithstanding the disappointment of the past.
Unlike in the past, too, Nigerians seemed to have accepted that their political destiny is in their hands, hence the readiness to beat election thieves and rogues at their own game with the help of new technologies.
The voters did not only wait to listen to the results as they were announced at the polling units, most of the electorate posted the results for their wards immediately on facebook and other social networks, thus giving no room for afterward manipulations.

Voters can witness vote counting

INEC Chairman and IG of Police say voters who are interested in witnessing the collation of votes at polling centres during the general elections are free to do so as long as you do it peacefully. Anyone caught behaving unruly at any polling centre will be arrested and prosecuted. And please go with your camera phones!

Voters interested in witnessing the collation of votes at polling centres during the April general elections are free to do so.

But such freedom is with a proviso: their conduct must be peaceful.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega and the Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, announced this after briefing the National Council of States on the preparations for the elections in Abuja on Tuesday.

INEC and the Police warned that anyone caught behaving unruly at any polling unit would be arrested and prosecuted.

Jega, who was the first to speak with the journalists, said that the impression that voters could stay behind and defend their votes was based on a misunderstanding of INEC’s guidelines on elections.

He made it clear that INEC would prefer a situation where voters went to their homes immediately after casting their votes.

But he said that voters who wished to stay behind and monitor the collation process were free to do so.

He, however, warned that security agencies had been directed to deal with anyone found to be formenting trouble at polling centres.

The INEC chairman said, “There are concerns over crowd control. These concerns are such that anywhere where about 200 or more people are gathered, there is the possibility of a breach of the peace. When it concerns elections, there is the likelihood that it might get out of hand and lead to violence.

“These were the concerns the members of the council of state raised , and I think at this point, I need to make a clarification about the participation of voters and monitoring of election results.

“What we issued as guidelines is that every voter will come, will be accredited and will be allowed to vote. When he or she finishes voting and chooses to wait and observe the collation, then it must be done peacefully.

“I want to state categorically that we in INEC are not urging people to stay and defend their votes the way people are suggesting it. If anybody chooses to stay, he or she must make sure it is done in non-violent manner. The rules must be obeyed. Anybody who cannot do that should not stay.”

Ringim, who also briefed journalists on the matter, said, “People would be allowed to stay as long as they conduct themselves peacefully and not otherwise.

“Anybody that is found to be in a position to threaten the conduct of the election shall be arrested and prosecuted.”

The IG had last Friday said that voters would be allowed to witness vote counting at “a reasonable distance from polling centres.”