TheCable

Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has assured Nigerians that the forthcoming general election would be credible.

INEC has come under heavy criticism for widespread shortcomings in the distribution of the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) and the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in some states.

But speaking when he received Mohammed Ibn Chambas, a special representative of the United Nations secretary-general for West and Central Africa, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, Jega promised that no eligible voter would be disenfranchised.

He said compared to 2011, the commission had improved in many areas.

“Since the 2011 elections, the commission has devoted a lot of time and energy to improving the processes and setting up policies and mechanisms that can help us have remarkably better elections in 2015,” he said in a press statement issued by Kayode Idowu, his chief press secretary.

“We’ve done quite a lot…Of course, there are challenges; and we have to acknowledge these challenges. One of the key things we have done is that we have updated the register, we have cleaned it up and we have been working very hard to produce and distribute what the law says we should – Permanent Voter Cards.

“We have gone very far with this. So far, we have produced PVCs and distributed them in 24 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and we have also done an update of the register in those states.”

Jega further said the difficulties encountered during the distribution of Permanent Voter Card (PVC) would not have untoward effect on the elections in 2015.

“People have been very anxious and many have been disappointed – not just by the change in the timetable for distribution of the cards but also by the logistical challenges and operational delays experienced in the field,” he said.

“But these are minor challenges as far as we are concerned. We are absolutely sure that before the February elections, every validly registered Nigerian will have his/her PVC to be able to exercise their voting right. And we are doing everything possible to ensure that happens.”

But he said INEC alone could not guarantee peaceful conduct of elections, which is why it has been sensitising political parties on the need to avoid whatever could disrupt the exercise.