Attahiru Jega, chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), has told his aides that he plans
to inform tomorrow’s meeting of the Council of State that
his commission is fully prepared for the February 14, 2015
elections. According to INEC sources who spoke to
SaharaReporters, Mr. Jega indicated that he also intended to
brief the council on a few outstanding minor logistical issues
which he said INEC would be able to take care of in the next
week.
The chair of the electoral commission however expressed
concern that the Nigerian armed forces, despite openly
claiming to be fully prepared for the elections, had refused
to meet with INEC to discuss specific roles that each of
would play in order to help safeguard electoral materials and
distribute them across the nation.
One source said that some INEC officials believe that the
military’s uncooperative attitude arose from a scheme by
President Goodluck Jonathan and his supporters to frustrate
the elections. As far back as October 2014, SaharaReporters
had disclosed that Mr. Jonathan was less interested in the
elections than in the elongation of his tenure.
Mr. Jonathan called a meeting of the Council of State to
hold in Abuja tomorrow, February 5. Our sources said the
president’s major agenda was to persuade former Nigerian
leaders, some state governors and opposition figures to
agree to the idea of postponing the elections for at least
two months. The president’s main argument, according to
those familiar with the scheme, is that INEC was ill-
prepared to hold elections on February 14.
One source told our correspondent that Mr. Jonathan had
secured the full support of former military dictator, Ibrahim
Babangida, for the postponement of the elections. Mr.
Babangida’s political legacy included annulling the June 12,
1993 presidential polls, an action that precipitated a major
political crisis in Nigeria for several years. The election had
been described by local and foreign observers as freest and
fairest.
A source told SaharaReporters that former President
Olusegun Obasanjo plans to boycott tomorrow’s meeting of
the Council of States. As at press time, our correspondence
was unable to find out if Muhammed Buhari, the presidential
candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), plans to
attend the council meeting. An aide of Mr. Buhari’s said the
presidential candidate would lead opposition governors to the
council in order to fight against the extension.
Should Mr. Jonathan succeed in postponing the election by
two months, Mr. Jega would be approximately one month away
from the end of his tenure. , the President will send him on
a terminal leave and bring in his replacement to conduct the
election, but Saharareporters has learnt that the President
doesn’t have any interest in conducting elections instead he
is interested in pushing for a two-year Interim Government
of National Unity to be headed by him. His aides are
supposed to meet with the National Leader of the APC, Bola
Tinubu to offer his a position as the VP slot on the IGNU.

http://saharareporters.com/2015/02/05/inec-chair-jega-tell-council-state-he-ready-elections-getting-no-cooperation-military

no more story...
let d election beging