The Independent National Electoral Commission on Saturday postponed the National Assembly elections until Monday, April 4.
The chairman of the commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, announced this at a news conference in Abuja.
Jega blamed unnamed “vendor(s)” of failing to deliver critical materials such as result sheets on schedule and said the development was a ‘national emergency.”
Jega said despite many assurances, the vendor(s) delivered the materials in Lagos at 9am on Saturday as against the agreed date of Thursday.
He explained that the decision to postpone the elections, though ‘painful,’ was a necessary sacrifice needed to ensure the credibility of the poll.
Tendering his apology to the nation, Jega said his explanation was in line with the promise his leadership made at its inception to always be truthful with Nigerians.
He said, “Since this commission started work in July 2010, I have repeatedly promised Nigerians that in carrying out our duties we shall always be sincere and truthful.
“I have always said that this INEC will be upfront with Nigerians, telling you exactly how things are – sharing both our successes and difficulties with you.
“This is one such occasion. Indeed, it is an emergency. As you know, the National Assembly (House of Representatives and Senate) elections are supposed to be taking place as I speak.
“You would also have noticed that things have not proceeded smoothly as expected with the elections. The reason for this is the unanticipated emergency we have experienced with the late arrival of result sheets in many parts of the country.
Jega explained that the result sheets were central to the elections because they are “not only used to enter results, but for knowing the number of accredited voters.”
He added that the shift was also neccessitated by the fact that in many places, INEC officials reported late at the polling units, “making it now difficult to implement the Modified Open Ballot Procedure that we have adopted.”
Jega said the election would have commenced in five states — Lagos, Kaduna, Kebbi, Delta, Zamfara and Enugu— where all the materials were available but was stopped because INEC was determined to maintain the integrity of the poll.
The INEC Chairman said, “While we could have proceeded with the elections in a few states of the country, where all the materials are available, such as Lagos, Kaduna, Kebbi, Delta, Zamfara and Enugu, among others, in order to maintain the integrity of the elections and retain effective overall control of the process, the Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to postpone the National Assembly elections to Monday, April 4, 2011.
“I appeal to all Nigerians for their understanding in this difficult situation.
“We as a commission appreciate the profound sacrifice that you have all made not just in turning out today, but also throughout this election season.
“We are greatly encouraged by you and our appeal is that you remain steadfast in this last lap of this electoral process in the interest of all Nigerians and in the cause of democracy.
“The commission will immediately be contacting all political parties, as major stakeholders to explain the situation. I appeal for their support in explaining the situation to their members and supporters.
“May I also appeal to all other stakeholders, particularly national and international observers and our development partners for continued understanding.
“I realise that they have committed enormous resources to this process, especially in deploying observers in the field. However, we think that what is worth doing is worth doing well.
“Finally, while we deeply regret this situation and apologise to Nigerians for the hardship this may have created, I would like to reiterate that we are fully committed to conducting free, fair and credible elections for Nigerians.
“The decision the commission has taken is weighty; but it is also a very important step in further ensuring the credibility of the elections.”
Jega later fielded questions from journalists, saying “I take full responsibility for the lapses that led to the postponement of the elections.”
Jega explained that INEC was under the impression that the vendors handling the supply of the electoral materials were honourable men.
Jega said, “It is regrettable; it is unfortunate, it should not have happened under normal circumstances. We take the blame.”
Giving a detailed account of what happened, Jega explained, “A vendor was supposed to deliver these materials latest by Thursday late afternoon and we were confident with the assurance that we had that once these materials were delivered, we had sufficient time to deliver them to the field.
“Obviously, they did not deliver on Thursday, they gave us excuses that there was a problem in Japan and many of the Boeing 747s were being diverted for relief materials to Qatar and Libya and they claimed that this development affected some of the agreements they had for transportation.
“They now assured us that the materials would arrive by 5:30pm on Friday, which was yesterday and by the assurances they gave us we thought as honourable men that the new arrangement would stand and we were fully mobilised.
“We got the Air Force to lay aircraft and as we speak with you, over 10 aircraft are at the airport ready when the materials arrive in the country to distribute them to the polling units.
“And we were confident that if they were on ground by 5:30 pm we would have done that. Unfortunately again, they did not arrive 5:30 pm; we were told 2 am and eventually they only arrived in Lagos 9am this (Saturday) morning.”
Jega went ahead to apologise again for the postponement, and assured Nigerians that there would not be a repeat of lapses on Monday and in subsequent elections slated for April 9 and 16.
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