Expect Poll Results On Monday – Jega

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, yesterday disclosed that the results of today’s presidential and National Assembly elections will be declared within 48 hours. He said the commission is making all efforts to ensure that results are disclosed much earlier than in 2011, adding that the confidence the commission has in the 48 hour period for the election results was based on the improvements the commission has made since 2011. Jega stated this during a joint press conference with the director general of the National Youth Service Commission (NYSC), Brig-Gen. Johnson Olawumi, on last minute preparations for the polls. He however added that not all states will be able to get results within 24 hours. The INEC boss also debunked allegations that a purported master key for the commission’s database has been compromised, noting that INEC’s database does not use a master key, but a source code for encryption and decryption. Jega, who was replying to an allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council that the master key was in possession of the APC, said only the producers of the database infrastructure of INEC have the source code. He said the company, Act Technologies Limited, was approved by the Federal Executive Committee and was never blacklisted. The INEC chairman further regretted that the allegations over the compromise of its database was baseless and has the propensity to threaten the credibility of the elections. Jega also noted that the award of the contract to the company passed all required due processes. He said “it is regrettable and a pity that people can say all sorts of things and get away freely with it.” He said “it is a last minute attempt to undermine the credibility of the elections.” He further stated that there is no disagreement with the Inspector General of Police, Suleman Abba, over whether “to vote and go or vote and stay”, noting that voters would have the choice of waiting or staying after casting their votes. He however said the presence of voters during the counting of votes would enhance the credibility of the polls. Jega however advised corps members recruited by INEC for the election to take up the assignment with all the seriousness it deserves, noting that their security and welfare have been taken care of. He hailed the role of corps members in enhancing the electoral process. On his part, the DG of the NYSC, urged the corps members to handle the assignment with high integrity, while advising them to stay away from any acts that may tarnish the image of the scheme, their families and the nation. The DG also assured corps members of their welfare and security, noting that while INEC has disbursed 100 per cent for the corps members, the NYSC has disbursed 50 percent of that amount pending the completion of their assignment. He underscored that the decision to give them some part of the money was to enable them resist any form of pressure from politicians to compromise. He said the non-payment of corps members allowance is now a thing of the past.