Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Barely two weeks to the 2015 general elections scheduled for March 28th and April 11th, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has charged Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to be steadfast in the face of distractions as the Commission would settle for nothing but the best elections.
The INEC Chairman, who spoke at a meeting with RECs, held at the Commission’s headquarters on Friday said, “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.”
He said the meeting would be an opportunity to examine closely whether there were still gaps in the final things that needed to be done within the next two weeks to keep on adding value to the elections.
“We need to do everything possible to make sure that the elections scheduled for March 28th and April 11th are indeed substantially much better than those we conducted in 2011 and the subsequent bye-elections in some states”, he added.
The INEC chairman called for continued engagement with stakeholders in order to meet the aspirations of Nigerians. He said: “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 reiterated the need for all hands to be on deck while urging contestants and parties to play by the rules and abide by the peace accord which were signed at different levels.
“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.
“We assure 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”, he vouched.
