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ADDRESS BY HON. CHAIRMAN, INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC), PROF MAURICE M. IWU ON INEC PROGRAMME OF EVENTS TOWARDS THE 2007 GENERAL ELECTIONS. 29TH MAY 2006

PROTOCALS

Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen for being with us today, as we present an update to the nation on preparations towards the 2007 general election. The challenge of conducting a general election any where in the world is quite enormous. The task is not made easier by the history of our past experience in elections, nor by the fact that this is the first time this nation will be going for a peaceful succession of one democratically elected government by another after the completion of two full terms by the former.

In a very unique and profound way however, these very challenge of our history and the present can be made not to be a burden but a unique opportunity for all of us, both at the Independent National Electoral Commission and the nation as a whole. The challenge of the moment is for the country as whole to rise above the lapses of its past and set itself on anew, confident path, where elections are credible, free and fair and where those who win elections are those truly chosen by the people.

For us at INEC, this press conference is very important, in that it brings us to a national platform to inform the nation of the progress we have made in preparing for the 2007 election. This conference gives us the opportunity to provide a shell of the programme we have developed for the conduct of the 2007 general election.

Now, the question is; why present the shell of our programme instead of the full detail of it? The answer is, because we do not yet such a vital guiding document as the Electoral Act. There is hardly any way we can have a definitive and final outline of the timetable for the 2007 election without taking into cognizance the provisions of the Electoral Act. But we are not unaware of the desire by Nigerians to be told of plans for the 2007 elections.

This conference provides us the opportunity to keep the nation abreast of our plans and programme for 2007, while informing them that the full definitive programme outline will soon follow, when the Electoral Act is passed .

Before I formally come to the schedule for the 2007 election, permit me ladies and gentlemen to avail you of the background of our present challenges as well as developments in the Commission in the last one year which coincides with the period since I became Chairman of the Commission.

In the wake of the 2003 election, when I returned to the country and was appointed into the Commission, there was a review of the last general election. The exercise sought to address the identified problems which accounted for the various lapses that came to personify the 2003 election.

On my assumption of office as the Chairman of the Commission, and with the next general election in 2007 already in view, the Commission moved to provide a solid platform for the enhancement of the electoral system, drawing heavily from the analysis and experience of the last election.

One of the areas of primary importance for the Commission was the consolidation of computerization of the voter register which began in 2002 but could not be concluded due to constraint of fund.

We have pursued this policy with utmost vigour and I am proud to inform the nation that the platform for the Electronic voter register is in place. The pilot revalidation of the voter register which held in the Federal Capital Territory early in the month of May provided us an invaluable opportunity to see the effective working of the new system.

We are now pleased with the system to proceed with the national voter registration exercise on that very platform. This is a very friendly system of registration of voters. It is however, a system that will not permit multiple registration of voters. Those who have been attacking the Commission and its leaders because they are scarred of this system simply have to come to terms with the new order.

What we have is a system that favours no one, but brooks no crookedness. That is the hallmark of our policy as we prepare for the conduct of a free, fair and credible election in 2007. There seems to have been a mindset in some people, which is intolerant of the word electronic as in the Electronic Voting System. There is nothing high tech in the system that we are building for the election. What we are after is a system that will reduce human influence and error in elections to the minimum while ensuring that Nigerians get accurate result for the ballots they cast.

The Commission has canvassed the use of the Electronic Voting System (EVS) as an answer to the experiences of the past in which Nigerians always felt shortchanged by the outcome of elections. For seventy two years or thereabout, the system of counting ballots, bereft of fidelity, has failed us woefully. It has failed us abysmally in establishing the intent of the voter and the transfer of that intent to the vote counter. INEC is committed to putting the past right and ensuring that whoever emerges in an election is the person the electorate wants.

There is nothing in the Electronic Voters Register or in Authentication of Voters or in Instant Transmission of Election Result at polling units that cannot be acceptable to any honest citizen. Good enough, these electronic platforms are battery- operated.

They are therefore, not susceptible to the vagaries of our power supply. Given the apparent opposition of National Assembly to the use of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), a component of the Electronic Voting System (EVS), INEC is not insisting on using it in the 2007 elections. With an eye on the future though, the Commission will still try and test out the machines, with a view to establishing their values, so that in times to come, Nigerians can be introduced to the machine.

It is pertinent also to mention here that we have reformed the Commission in such a profound manner as to propel the personnel of the Commission to deliver a more capable and credible election. We have instituted an effective performance monitoring plan that enhances operational efficiency in all aspects of the electoral system.
The Commission has established The Electoral Institute, the first of its kind in Africa, to ensure solid professional training of its personnel in election administration and conduct. Already the Institute has been accredited by the University of Ibadan and granted the right to offer courses leading to the award of a Diploma

Certificate in Election Management. The Electoral Institute will also have its programmes affiliated with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Ahamdu Bello University, Zaria. The Institute will soon embark on periodic training of Nigerians who are interested in volunteering to serve as occasional staff of the Commission during the polls. The list of such trained persons will be maintained in an open register, which can be examined by political parties and other stake-holders.

As we square up to the challenges of managing our vibrant political system and enhancing our electoral system, we have as a matter of cardinal policy opened up the political ; space, to promote healthy ventilation of ideas. This opening up of the political space has manifested in two main ways; registration of more political parties and holding of stakeholders fora across the country and registration of new political parties

We have found the stakeholders fora particularly enriching. Through these consultative fora, the Commission has drawn ideas on what Nigerians want and expect in the conduct of elections. We are encouraged by the goodwill of ordinary Nigerians as well as their untainted recommendations on what should be done to improve the country.

As for political parties, there are as of today thirty seven political parties officially recognized in the country. As many parties as meet the criteria for registration will be duly registered. However, any new party registered after the end of this year may not be eligible to field candidates in the 2007 election.

May I use this opportunity to implore the political parties once more to commence the work of developing their messages for the electorate and sharpening their manifestoes. The system we are instituting for the 2007 elections will make no room for wining elections in any other way beside convincing people and wining their approval. Campaign of calumny either against the Commission or any other party may not secure success in the election for any political party.

Election 2007

The 1999 Constitution provides for the stretch of period within which the election can be held. As of the moment, the Constitutional provision is that elections cannot beheld before 60 days or after 30 days of the expiration of the tenure of the sitting government. It would have been desirable to hold the elections at such a time as will allow ample space for litigations emanating from the elections

to be fully sorted out without pressure. It is the legislature or the judiciary that can introduce measure that can shorten the period or manner of post-election tribunals. The Commission has made representation to the leadership of the judiciary on ways of addressing this issue.

Against the background of the prevailing provision of the Constitution, the 2007 general elections will hold between April 7 and 28th, 2007.

The method of voting in the elections will remain through the time tested means of secret ballot. This remains the most effective, the most democratic and the most untainted way of having voters express their mind without fear or intimidation.

In addition to political party agents or representatives of candidates, independent, legitimate observers (both domestic and international) would be granted unrestricted access to the election process, provided that they accept and respect Nigerian election rules, do not interfere with the electoral process, and respect the secrecy of the ballot. Interested international observers must subscribe to the United Nations' "Declaration of Principles for International

Election Observation" and endorse the pledge attached to the "Code of Conduct for International Observers".

There are 120,000 polling stations in the country in which the elections will be conducted. We have mapped out these polling stations through the Geographic Information System (GIS).What this means is that there is no possibility of a polling booth being moved around as used to occur in the past. Each voting station has its activities supervised by a computer, so that each voter's card will not be eligible for use in another polling station as the authentication machine is made to recognize only voters registered for it.

Again, we advice political parties to work hard to mobilize their supporters to register and to come out to vote. There will hardly be my other way to win elections in 2007 than through proper campaigns and playing according to the rule.

While political parties are free to resort to any means of their choice to select their candidates, we implore them to strive to be mindful of the dictates of democracy and fairness in which ever method they opt for.

Ladies and Gentlemen, very soon, as soon as the Electoral Act is available and we align our programmes with it, we will invite you once more, to lay before you the definitive time table for the 2007 elections. This will be after consultations with the leadership of political parties, civil society groups and other stake-holders.

But even before that final outline, the march towards the 2007 elections has effectively commenced. Let the parties go to work. I wish you a happy Democracy Day.
Thank you.

PROF. MAURICE M. lWU
CHAIRMAN, INEC

Abuja. May 29, 2006 .