2015 Elections May Hold In January – Prof Attahiru Jega

If given approval by the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC),
the 2015 general elections will take
place either in January or February of
that year.
Chairman, INEC, Prof Attahiru Jega,
dropped this hint at a two-day
international workshop on "Ethics and
Elections: Challenges and Institutional
Responses" organised by the Friedrich
Ebert Stiftung Foundation in Abuja.
Jega also canvassed direct line charge
of funding for State Independent
Electoral Commissions (SIECs) to make
them independent.
Explaining why the 2015 elections
might hold early in that year, Jega said
the 2011 general elections would have
been held earlier to allow for litigations
to be resolved before the inauguration
date of May 29 but for the voters
registration exercise which preceded it.
He lamented that pre-election cases
which dealt with disagreements arising
from nominations and primaries had to
drag on for years into the tenures of
some candidates.
He expressed hope that the judiciary
would henceforth not deal with such
cases routinely but adopt a business-
like approach.
He said: "The key challenge is when
these cases go on forever; they are not
given priority. Three years after, we're
still dealing with pre-election cases."
Canvassing for Direct Line of Charge
funding of SIECs, Jega noted this would
ensure independence for the state
electoral commissions.
He argued that "if their funding can be
guaranteed like INEC's, it can go a long
way."
On independent candidacy, the INEC
chairman said it was a position which
had been canvassed and which he
supported but insisted that given the
number of political parties, there was
the need to set regulations, thresholds
and benchmarks. "We've many political
parties as it is," he observed. SOURCE: LEADERSHIP