Jega ‘not pressurised’ to declare poll inconclusive

Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says he is not under pressure to declare the March 28 presidential election inconclusive.

There had been speculations on social media that the INEC boss is being pressured by President Goodluck Jonathan to declare the election‎ inconclusive, owing to fears of losing the election.

But responding to TheCable’s query on the matter at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, Jega stated that he was not under any form of pressure to declare the election inconclusive.

“I’m not under any pressure to declare the election inconclusive,” he said tersely.

Speaking about the call for the cancellation of the election in Rivers state by the All Progressives‎ Congress (APC) over allegations of electoral malfeasance, Jega said that the commission was yet to take a decision on the matter.

“This morning I received a letter calling for the cancellation of the election,” he said.

“We have not taken a decision yet, but we will thoroughly investigate the matter.”

Regarding the reported victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 23 states of the federation, Jega dispelled the report, saying collation of results had only been done in two states, hence it was too early to name the winner of the election in the other states.

“Results have not been collated in 23 states. Very few states have actually been collated,” he said.

“In fact, only two states have been collated. The presidential result in Ekiti has been collated.”

He urged citizens to desist from peddling false results, warning that‎ only results announced by INEC should be taken.

Jega condemned the killing of the commission’s ad hoc staff at Dukku in Gombe state on Saturday, while commiserating with the families of the dead.

He said the resident electoral commissioner of Gombe state had been directed to investigate the matter.

He also reiterated the commission’s resolve to announce the results of the election within 48 hours, saying: “In 2011 we declared the results within 48 hours, and we want to improve on that. We have been working assiduously to beat that record.”