The House of Representatives on Sunday raised concerns over
the 2015 general elections, saying that adequate funding for the Independent
National Electoral Commission and security would determine the credibility of
the polls. The House Committee on Electoral Matters said it had resolved to summon
the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to brief the lawmakers on the
preparedness of the commission to conduct the poll. Chairman of the committee,
Mr. Jerry Manwe, who spoke exclusively with our correspondent, said while
Nigerians expected INEC to conduct a credible poll, they were not asking
questions about the funding available to the commission and the “disturbing
insecurity situation in parts of the country.” He explained that the timing of
the proposed meeting with Jega was appropriate, particularly at a period the
National Assembly would be considering the 2015 budget. Manwe stated, “We
expect a credible, free and fair poll ordinarily, but this will again depend on
funding for INEC and security. “My committee will summon Jega to speak with us
on the level of preparedness for the elections. Jega has to come and meet with
the committee because there are sensitive issues we have to look at, one of
them is insecurity. “Funding and security play a role in the credibility of the
poll; so, we will have to look at all this with the INEC chairman.” Lawmakers
are at the moment observing the Christmas and New Year break, with a resumption
date fixed for January 13. In June, the House had raised the alarm over alleged
shortfall in funding for INEC, especially for the 2015 poll. After going
through the proposals for the 2014 budget, the committee said it found out that
out of N120bn the commission proposed for the 2015 poll, the Budget Office of
the Federation only made a provision for N45bn. The committee noted at the time
that the approved N45bn left a balance of about N75bn. “Out of the N120bn that
INEC proposed, only N45bn was given to the commission by government. It means
that the commission is short of a huge difference of N75bn. As the committee on
electoral matters, our work is to alert the relevant authorities on our
findings and the implications for the 2015 elections,” the committee had warned
in June. Manwe expressed doubts on Sunday that the situation would have
improved remarkably.
Punch (online)
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