TheCable

‎Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says with the level of preparedness of the commission it is set to conduct “flawless or near perfect elections” this year.

‎Speaking at the National Stakeholders’ Summit on the 2015 general election in Abuja on Tuesday, Jega stated that the commission had commenced preparations for the 2015 elections immediately after the 2011 elections ended.

He said since the last general election, the commission had succeeded in cleaning up the voter register by identifying and removing multiple registrations.

According to him, the commission had also succeeded in producing and distributing permanent voter cards (PVCs) with 82 percent collection of the cards recorded.

Further speaking on the commission’s preparations for the elections, he said the electoral body had procured smart card readers, verified and validated polling units, and trained its regular and ad-hoc staff.

He also observed that the shifting of the polls from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11 afforded the commission more time “to perfect the electoral process for the delivery of free, fair and credible elections”.

Stating the points that stakeholders must‎ pay attention to in the elections, Jega reiterated that “accreditation for the elections would start at 8am and end at 1pm while voting would start at 1:30pm and end when the last person votes”.

Regarding the ballot boxes for the elections, he stated that red cover boxes would be used for the presidential ballot, black cover boxes for the senatorial ballot and green cover boxes for the house of representative ballot.

The INEC boss said that ballot papers in the wrong boxes would be sorted and put in the right boxes, but some political parties present at the event opposed the idea on the grounds that it was against their agreement with INEC.

Jega also disclosed that after the elections, hard copies of the result sheets would be scanned and published‎ on INEC’s website.

He added that the commission was doing its best to ensure that the elections were free, fair and credible.

“INEC is determined to be impartial. We will continue to do all that is possible to ensure a level-playing field for all political parties,” he said.