by Ranti Joseph

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, has assured that the commission will meet the aspiration of Nigerians for credible elections.

This comes as some youths, under the aegis of Middle Belt Concerned Youths staged a protest at the headquarters of INEC in Abuja, against the use of Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) and the Card Readers for the elections.

Jega, who spoke at the meeting on Wednesday with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to review preparations for the forthcoming elections, admitted that the commission was facing challenging times but that they will remain focused.

Speaking at the meeting, Jega who said it was to have final review for the preparation of the elections noted it is a challenging time for them as they put final finishing touches to preparations for the conduct of the 2015 general elections.

“This meeting is very important because it is an opportunity for us to before the elections have a final review and updating of the extent of our preparations for the conduct of the elections. It is important that we also remain focused in terms of delivering the best election for our country.”

“There are a lot of things to distract us but we need to remain focused and resilient. We need to do everything possible to make sure that the elections scheduled March 28th and April 11th are indeed substantially much better than those we conducted in 2011 and the subsequent by-elections in some states.”

“We need to continue to engage all stakeholders, to inform them, provide information, enlighten them and carry them along, because the contribution and support of everybody is necessary for having the best elections that Nigerians want,” Jega said.

“I want to say that today’s meeting we will review outstanding matters relating to the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, relating to the relocation of polling units and related to the field testing or mock demonstration of card readers that we did last Saturday.”

“And of course it will be an opportunity for us to examine closely whether there are still gaps in the final things that we need to do within the next two weeks to keep on adding value to the elections. I want to use this opportunity to reassure all Nigerians that we in the commission are doing our best and our best will be good enough in terms of meeting the aspirations of Nigerians in terms of free fair and credible elections.”

“But as we have said constantly, everybody has a role to play in ensuring free, fair, and credible and peaceful elections. In particular we want to urge candidates and political parties to contribute and engage in the process, within the legal framework and in the context and code of conduct which they have all signed.”

“In particular they also need to respect the peace accord which the leading candidates in the presidential race have signed, as well as many gubernatorial candidates in the states have signed. We all need to ensure that the elections are peaceful, because peaceful elections are what will promote stability of our country and what will lay a solid foundation that is required for development,” he added.