The Council of State meeting held yesterday, Thursday, 5 February, was as expected a very heated engagement and was not as mild as it appeared to the media after it emerged from the Seven hours uninterrupted concourse.
Contending forces reportedly mounted a thoroughly heated pressure on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to postpone the elections for at least six weeks but the Commissions Chair, Prof. Attahiru Jega stood his ground and insisted.
According to Vanguard, Jega insisted on holding the election as scheduled. He was however countered by Service Chiefs present at the meeting who, according to sources, told him that they could not guarantee security for the election.
Those in attendance included Vice President Namadi Sambo, the president of the Senate, Senator David Mark; Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, governors, and two former chief justices of the country- Justice Dahiru Musdapher and Justice Alfa Belgore.
As the meeting got underway, Jega briefed the council on his readiness for the election and was said to have confidently asserted the readiness of the commission for the election.
He was, however, countered by the service chiefs who claimed that they could not provide security for the elections. The service chiefs were said to have volunteered that at least 17 local government areas in Borno State were still under the occupation of terrorists.
All former heads of state with the exception of President Shehu Shagari and Chief Ernest Shonekan, who reportedly did not comment, were said to have advised that the elections should not be postponed.
President Ibrahim Babangida, it was gathered, warned that disrupting the elections would show a negative portrayal of the country and his point was echoed by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar.
While the PDP governors urged for a postponement, the APC governors strongly backed Jega on going ahead with the election.
A former Chief Justice of the Federation present, it was learned, also told the meeting that he had consulted all the other living former chief justices and that they were all unanimous that the elections should go on.
But those who called for postponement, notably incumbent political office holders from the PDP, were said to have raised issues with INEC’s plans.
Among the issues raised were that 34% of the Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs had not been collected and the unreliability of the card readers.
The PDP governors, it was learned, argued that the card readers being deployed for the election had never been tested before and that they feared that using them could lead to chaos. However, the major contention was that security could not be guaranteed and that point was pressed both by the service chiefs and the PDP governors.
As the arguments drew to an end with majority of the members urging that the commission should go ahead as scheduled, the president was said to have asked Jega to go and consult with his commissioners in the light of the discussions.
At this point, Gen. Abdulsalami was said to have insisted that a clear message should be given to Nigerians that the council was not divided on the issue and that the commission should be charged to go ahead with its statutory responsibility as it deemed fit.
At the end of the seven-hour meeting, Governors Rochas Okorocha, (Imo), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo) and Bala Ngilari (Adamawa) were asked to brief the press on the outcome of the council meeting.
Governor Mimiko who spoke first at the press conference stated: “Council of State in a meeting close to seven hours essentially discussed the state of preparedness of INEC. INEC had the benefit of inputs from council members and security chiefs and agencies.
He said: “And based on the very exhaustive discussion and pieces of advice, INEC which is constitutionally empowered on the issue of election on the basis of discussions at the council was asked to brief the nation after consultation with other stakeholders and then the news will be communicated to you”.
Asked if the council agreed to a shift in the date of the election, Governor Mimiko said: “I made it absolutely clear, I am not the INEC chief, INEC will appropriately brief you based on the meeting we just had.
“INEC is going to consult widely with stakeholders and come up with a decision that they will brief the nation soon”.
Mimiko emphasised that “the Council of State is essentially an advisory body. Mr. President in his wisdom has invited INEC to brief us on the state of preparedness based on what INEC briefed and based on perception of council members and security agencies, INEC was properly advised and you will hear from INEC”.
Governor Okorocha, who was seated beside him, insisted that he must speak in order to give a broader perspective on the decision reached by the council. He told State House Correspondents:
“National Council of State advised INEC to go and perform its civic responsibility which is to conduct elections. That is what we rose to agree, it was a very challenging moment, and INEC has reaffirmed severally that they are ready, but because of concerns of security agencies in some few local governments, Council asked INEC to go and perform their civic responsibilities, which is the conduct of elections.”
Asked if there was a decision as to change of date for the polls, Governor Okorocha said: “There is no decision as to change of date or postponement at all. But the Council has asked INEC to go and perform their responsibility.” (Vanguard).