Vanguardngr:

Boko Haram will not threaten Nigeria vote – Attahiru
Jega,
Nigeria can hold elections in February even if Boko Haram
violence makes voting impossible in parts of the northeast,
the country’s elections chief told AFP, arguing that the
disenfranchisement of thousands of people would not
undermine the entire vote.
Attahiru Jega, who heads the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), said he was preparing to organise polling
in the three states under emergency rule because of Islamist
attacks.
Based on current security assessments, the 57-year-old
former academic said it was “inconceivable” that unrest could
prevent voting throughout Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
But even if the security services ruled out polling stations in
areas where the crisis is most intense — including much of
Borno and parts of Yobe — the overall credibility of the vote
would remain intact, he added.
“I want us… to get one thing clear: not doing an election in one
state, it is unlikely to affect the outcome of the election
nationally,” he said in an interview in Abuja.
Boko Haram is believed to be in control of more than two
dozen towns and villages in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa
although the situation could change significantly before polling
day on February 14, 2015.
The United Nations has said that more than 600,000 people
have been displaced by the conflict and will face huge
challenges to return to their home districts to vote.
President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to declare his re-
election bid in the coming weeks and analysts say the conflict-
wracked northeast will vote overwhelmingly against him.
Human rights lawyer Festus Keyamo agreed with Jega that the
de facto disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of likely
opposition voters would not necessarily nullify the
presidential result, especially if the margins are wide.
But, he said, Senate and lower house results in the affected
areas would be invalid.
Some analysts have voiced concern that securing the
northeast on election day will require a massive military
deployment, leaving other flashpoint areas vulnerable,
especially the religiously divided central states which have
seen political violence before.
– A cleaner election –
Jega is one of a handful of public officials in corruption-ridden
Nigeria who is broadly viewed as impartial and perhaps even
incorruptible.
He earned a doctorate in political science from Northwestern
University outside Chicago and held an array of academic
posts in the West and Nigeria before Jonathan appointed him
to head INEC in 2010.
While the 2011 general election was marred by irregularities
and hundreds were killed in post-poll violence, Jega was
applauded for organising a reasonably credible process in a
nation of 170 million people with just a year to prepare.
But he said the widespread fraud last time round was
unacceptable and must be eliminated in 2015.
Voter registration was a mess, he said, with millions of dead
people still on the electoral roll and inadequate voter
verification systems.
Voter cards were bought and sold, ballot papers stolen from
one district and taken to another, he continued.
Biometric registration, colour-coded ballots and other systems
will ensure “that 2015 general elections will be much, much
better than the 2011 elections”, he said.
There however remains a huge amount of rot in the system
and too many politicians still “want to win by hook or by
crook”, he added.
INEC has evidence of election fraud against more than one
million people but lacks the resources to prosecute them.
Jega said he expected some candidates to attempt foul play
again in 2015 but pledged that his staff was ready to crack
down.
“What we did was learn where the gaps were and then tried to
ensure that these gaps are blocked so no one can exploit them
again,” he said.