The National Council of State rose from its meeting yesterday and decided that elections must hold as slated on February 14 and 28 after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega assured the council of State that the Commission is ready for the general election.
Governor Rochas Okorocha at the end of the meeting told Journalists that after seven hours of talks which centered on whether the election should go ahead in the face of the insurgency in the North East and the anomalies in the distribution of Permanent Voters Card (PVC), the council said elections should not be postponed.
Okorocha said the security agencies had expressed concerns about “security challenges” during the elections.
But the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) insisted it was “very ready to conduct these elections”, he said.
The council resolved that “INEC should then inform the nation as to their preparedness and proceed to conduct the elections,” Okorocha added.
The prospect of an election delay was first raised last month by National Security Advisor Sambo Dasuki, who said that INEC should look at delaying the polls because of problems in distributing voter cards.
In recent weeks Boko Haram has stepped up its bloody six-year insurgency in northeast Nigeria, leading to growing calls for a postponement of the synchronised presidential and national assembly polls.
Buhari’s opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) is, however, opposed to any delay.
Election officials have conceded that the election will be impossible in many areas controlled by the jihadists.
The INEC also has no plan to allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the Islamists vote outside their home district.
Some 69 million people, out of a total population of 177 million, are registered to cast a ballot but the distribution of voter cards has been plagued by logistical problems in several areas.
Several state governors have declared public holidays this week, to give people a chance to ensure they are on the electoral register.