Trailblazer1:
 Editor’s Note: Cameroun-born Simon Ateba is one of Nigeria’s most controversial journalists. If he is not being beaten up by a Christ Embassy security team, he is harassing government officials with questions that make them loose their cool. Apologies to Mrs. Stella Oduah. But Simon has one thing going for him, he says it like it is, without minding whose ox is gored. In this piece about the Independent Electoral Commission’s (INEC) boss, Professor Attahiru Jega, Ateba digs deep and tells us, with facts, how Jega and his team at INEC were not prepared for the elections which were re-scheduled two weeks back. Ateba published the article on his website, www.simonateba.com.

Article Highlights

– There were about four million Nigerians for whom the PVCs had not even been produced.

– INEC was not ready and lied to the nation only to portray security chiefs in bad light.

– Until he redeems his image, Jega will be seen as a liar who had an agenda.


It is now crystal clear that Attahiru Jega, the chairman of Nigeria’s electoral body, lied to Nigerians on why a general election here was postponed by six weeks.


On 7 February, when Jega addressed the nation at a fully packed press conference in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, he told the nation that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was ready to conduct the election but had to postpone it only because security chiefs claimed in writing that they would be fighting Boko Haram in the Northeast and would not be able to provide security for INEC staff, voters, observers as well as journalists.

Jega insisted that he was so ready that even in Boko Haram controlled areas, he had distributed permanent voters cards. But it is now clear that all that was a lie, or at best, Jega was not being truthful.

First, there were about four million Nigerians, more than the population of Gabon, for whom the PVCs had not even been produced. But jega said he was ready.

Secondly, he had not even tested the card readers he was going to use on election day. There were roughly 150,000 polling units in Nigeria and INEC had only purchased 152,000 card readers without testing them in Nigeria. (He claimed he tested them in Texas, USA).

Thirdly, INEC had not even trained staff on the use of those card readers. But he claimed he was ready. It was only after 14 February when the presidential and National Assembly elections were scheduled to take place that INEC Chairman at the invitation of lawmakers admitted that there were flaws that had not been addressed.

Worse, on 7 February, seven days to the presidential election, only a little over 65 percent of registered voters in Nigeria had received their cards. There are a little over 68 million Nigerians who had registered to vote.

Right now, over a week after the election was meant to have taken place on 14 February, INEC has only distributed 52 million cards out of 68 million. There are still 14 million people who have not collected those cards, mainly because INEC Chairman who hails from northern Nigeria, decided to distribute most of the cards in the north first where Muhammadu Buhari hails from at the expense of southern Nigeria where President Goodluck Jonathan hails from.

As at now, only 75 percent of the cards have been distributed. But INEC claimed that it was ready.

More worrisome, the figures released by the Nigerian electoral body on Tuesday last week confirmed the fears of many supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan who had repeatedly argued that Attahiru Jega, INEC Chairman, had distributed more voters cards in northern Nigeria where Nigeria’s main opposition presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari and Jega himself hail from.

The figures released showed that while states in northern Nigeria have performed better, states in Southern Nigeria where President Jonathan is expected to do well in the 28 March election, were still lagging behind.

Some members of Jonathan’s People’s Democratic Party, PDP, had accused Jega, a northern Muslim like Buhari of bias. But Jega has rejected such allegations and insisted that he would not favour any candidate.

A breakdown of the figures released yesterday shows that the northern Nigerian State of Nasarawa is leading other states with 96.29 per cent of the 1,196,583 registered voters having their PVCs.

Gombe State comes second with 95.05 per cent of the 1,120, 023 voters in possession of their cards.‎

Jigawa State is third with 93.20 per cent of the 1,831,276 voters receiving their PVCs as of Monday.

Katsina came Kaduna come fourth and fifth respectively.

‎Coming from the bottom is Ogun State in Southern Nigeria where only 40 per cent of the registered voters had collected their PVCs.

There are 1,829,534 registered voters in the state but only 747,556 of them had collected their PVCs so far.

In the Federal Capital Territory, only 61.42 per cent of the 881,472 registered voters had also picked their PVCs.

The figure also indicated that in Lagos State which has 5,905,852 registered voters, 3,685,322 which represents 62,40 per cent, have collected their PVCs.‎

INEC has however said that 75.94 per cent or 52,275,367 of the 68,833,476 registered voters in the country have collected their Permanent Voter Cards.

All the above data show that INEC was not ready and lied to the nation only to portray security chiefs in bad light. Until he redeems his image, he will be seen as a liar who had an agenda.

With only 40 percent of cards distributed in Ogun State, Jega would have created a war in that state. The same thing would have happened elsewhere had election taken place. Let’s remain journalists and say what is bad is bad. And this is bad.

http://www.naij.com/390965-did-jega-tried-to-deceive-nigerians.html

Vision4God:
I sincerely did not read d write up. Summary needed

sincerenigerian:


I summarized it in one word - RUBBISH.

WisdomFlakes:
PDP Goons have started again with their smear campaign against Jega, but know that this time around Nigerians will resist your plans to shift the elections again.

WisdomFlakes:
PDP Goons have started again with their smear campaign against Jega, but know that this time around Nigerians will resist your plans to shift the elections again.

is your brain made of wood? Or you lack the capacity to read and understand without sentiments

sincerenigerian:


I summarized it in one word - RUBBISH.

viccipedia:
is your brain made of wood? Or you lack the capacity to read and understand without sentiments

WisdomFlakes:
The clearer it becomes to the PDP that Jonathan simply doesn't have the numbers and that unlike in 2011, when he had a field day via rigging, the more frustrated and desperate they become. Too bad Nigerians won't tolerate another postponement this time around. I urge GEJ and his supporters club to remain calm while they anticipate an inevitable defeat.

Trailblazer1:

Pls don't derail the thread if you don't know what to contribute

wise0ne:
Buhari is a man full of contradictions.- He will fight corruption but Tinubu is his friend.- He will give us security but he was pushed out of office like a chicken by his subordinates.- He is honest but lies about his qualification.-He has no N 27 million to buy presidential nomination form but the wife has N 135 millionworth of drugs to donate.- He is poor but all his children schools abroad.- He will fight terrorism but sees others fight against terrorism as anti-north.- He will help the youth but is never known to have helped a single almajiri even in Daura.- He will fix the economy but has not even basic rudiment of economics.- He will fix education but is unschooled himself.- He wants to benefit from democracy but overthrew a democratic government.- He obtained school certificate but cannot produce "the certificate".May God protect us from this hypocrite.
HOW can yoruba be this daft and allow just a man to make a mince meat of them.



Before 1999, Tinubu had none of these of which 70% belongs to the government and the masses.
1. Oriental Hotel
2. Falomo Shopping Complex
3. First Nation Airline
4. Lekki Concession Company
5. Apapa Amusement Park
6. Maiyegun Land Project
7. The Nation Newspaper
8. Renaissance Hotel
9. Tejuoso Market (Joint ownership)
10. Ikeja Shopping Mall
11. TV Continental
12. Converted Lagos Poly land for TVC
13. Owned NNPC Office building in Lagos
14. Radio Continental
15. Owned School of Nursing building in Lagos
16. Tax Collector of Lagos State (owns Alpha Beta, a company Prof. Osinbajo is a
director)
17. Wife is a member of the National Assembly
18. Son-in-law is a member of the National Assembly
19. Daughter is the President-General of Market Women Association in Lagos
20. Two of his nephews given tickets to Lagos State House of Assembly
21. N4 billion government financed property for self at Queens Drive, Lagos.
22. Owned Royal Gardens Estate, Lekki and a host of others including choice Lagos State Lands he connered to himself, family members and cronnies.
23. He is supporting and Financing buhari not because he loves him or Democracy but because he wants to expand his resource grabbing to the Federal level including oil blocs of the Niger Delta. beware of looters in ceremonial clothing, we know their type...