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2 April 2011
After months of preparation, tens of billions of naira spent and more than 100,000 staff and volunteers deployed, Attahiru Jega’s election plans came to an embarrassing halt Saturday.
Millions of voters had flocked to thousands of voting centres throughout the country, with some having already cast their votes, when the Independent National Electoral Commission suddenly pulled the plug.
An apologetic Jega appeared on national television to say that INEC felt compelled by a logistical fiasco to postpone until Monday the first of three rounds of polling, this one for parliament.
“The reason for this is the unanticipated emergency we have experienced with late arrival of result sheets in many parts of the country. The result sheets are central to the elections and their integrity. Accordingly, in many places, our officials have not reported at the polling units, making it now difficult to implement the Modified Open Ballot Procedure that we have adopted,” he said yesterday.
The shocking cancellation of the National Assembly election reawakened fears that the commission may not be able to conduct credible elections, despite all assurances to the contrary. With just six days to the presidential election, more and more Nigerians have expressed doubts over the ability of Attahiru Jega, the INEC chairman, to live up to expectations.
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