INEC Broke, Begs FG for Bailout

Professor Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said that dearth of funds is affecting the welfare of his staff resulting in the commission’s inability to pay workers their emolument.

Jega speaking yesterday at the third quarterly consultative meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), appealed to the Federal Government to bail the commission out  of  financial crunch.

He urged RECs not to be discouraged with all sorts of attacks and challenges from the stakeholders as the nation heads towards a general election, saying that they should remain focused and non-partisan in the discharge of their responsibilities.

He said, “As you are aware, we are doing our best to improve the working environment in the states, local government areas and even at the national level. And it is a very challenging task indeed because a lot of the things that we have to do require funds and budgetary provisions and, regrettably, we do not always get what we believe we need to be able address some of these challenges.”

He, however, pleaded with the Electoral Commissioners for understanding, stressing: “Bear with us as we continue to engage government and the legislators to have more resources to be able to improve our working conditions, improve our emoluments and other needs which will enable us to do our jobs even much better with greater satisfaction.”

Jega also underscored the challenges of the commission ahead of 2015, and encouraged the commissioners to be firm and be guided by legality in their decisions.

He maintained that, “There is no doubt that as we inch along and get closer to 2015, the work load on us increases, the pressure increases. We will come under all sorts of attacks and challenges from the gladiators in the arena. The key challenge for all of us is to remain focused on what is to be done, to operate within the law and ensure that we are impartial, non- partisan and we are fully compliant with the legal framework.

“With the kind of environment that we operate, we will not please everybody. When you take a decision, one side is happy and the other side is not happy. And in our own country where people are not happy, they more or less lose their senses and they do all sorts of things; throw all sorts of insults. And in fact, often display a tendency of throwing the baby away with the birth water. So that is the nature of our political terrain.”

He, however, eulogized the commissioners for devoting a lot of the energy in their work, stressing that they should discharge their responsibilities creditably to make the forthcoming election better than that of 2011.