Following the seven hours council of
state meeting which held yesterday at the presidential villa, two
governors were delegated to jointly brief the press on the outcome.
The governors, Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo
and Rochas Okorocha of Imo who represented the PDP and APC respectively
could not even agree on what actually transpired at the meeting in terms
of the final outcome of the council.Their conflicting statements reflected the division in the council of state.
Whereas Okorocha told the reporters who
had kept vigil at the state house that the council advised INEC to carry
on with its plans and perform its civic responsibility as earlier
planned, Mimiko said that INEC was told to go and consult further with
stakeholders and see if it was possible to go ahead with the election or
not.
Mimiko said this: “Council of State, in a
meeting close to seven hours, discussed essentially the state of
preparedness of INEC (for the elections). INEC had the benefit of input
from council members and security chiefs and agencies. And based on the
very exhaustive discussion and advice, INEC is constitutionally
empowered with the basis of the discussion, to brief the nation and then
the news will be communicated to you.”
Asked if there was a shift in date, the
Ondo State governor said: “Like I made it absolutely clear, I am not
INEC. The INEC chief will appropriately brief you based on the meeting
we just had. INEC is going to consult widely with stakeholders and come
up with a decision that they will brief the nation on soon.
“The Council of State is essentially an
advisory body. Mr. President, in his wisdom, invited INEC to brief us on
the state of preparedness and based on what INEC briefed us and based
on the perception of council members and security agencies, INEC was
properly advised and you will hear from INEC.”
He stressed: “For any avoidance of
doubt, like I said, INEC had the benefit of inputs and perspectives from
council members. Issues of distribution of PVCs (permanent voters’
cards), card readers, the extent of piloting to ensure that people are
familiar with this, security issues, all of these were discussed.
“The issue of the fact that seven days
to election 34 per cent of Nigerians are yet to get their PVCs was also
raised. It was a major issue that was discussed.
“Issues of preparedness and security to
conduct elections nationwide, issue of extensive pilot of the card
readers, which is a new technology was also brought to the fore.
“All of these were discussed but
ultimately, council being an advisory body to take advantage of the
different perspectives of the council members, allowed everyone to air
their views on the election.”
However, Okorocha said: “NCS advised
INEC to go and perform its civic responsibility which is to conduct
elections. That is what we rose to agree. It was a very challenging
moment, and INEC has reaffirmed severally that they are ready.
“But because of the concern of security
agencies in some few local government areas, council asked INEC to go
and perform its civic responsibility, which is the conduct of
elections.”
Asked if there was a decision on the
change of date for the polls, he said: “There was no decision as to the
change of dates or postponement at all. But the council has asked INEC
to go and perform its responsibility.”
Asked if any decision was taken on the
use of temporary voters’ card (TVCs), Okorocha said:
“Temporary voters
cards are being exchanged for the new ones and once you have given out
your temporary voters’ card, that means you don’t have one anymore.
“So they are going for the permanent
voters’ cards, and the PVCs would be assumed to have been distributed
before Sunday (February 8) that was the essence of the whole exercise,
and Jega has reassured us that they are equal to the task. In fact, they
are more prepared than they were in 2011.”
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