The green light is on for the March 28 and April 11 elections.
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega yesterday told leaders of political parties that all sensitive and non-sensitive materials, especially ballot papers and boxes, had been deployed in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Besides, said Jega:
.the military will not be used, unless in an emergency; and
.the Smart Card Readers (SCRs) will be used.
He said most of the sensitive materials had been kept at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The INEC chairman also presented some samples of ballot boxes and prototype of ballot papers to the parties.
Jega foreclosed the jettisoning of SCRs, despite the protest by 15 “minor” parties. They were the same parties that had endorsed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. But the PDP did not oppose the card reader at the meeting.
It was gathered that Jega spoke to the parties in a no-holds-barred manner for two hours on INEC’s readiness.
After the opening remarks, where Jega said some parties were heating up the polity with their utterances and attitude, the party leaders retired into a session on the status of preparation for the elections.
The INEC chairman said: “We are ready for the elections; all the materials (sensitive and non-sensitive) have been deployed. Some sensitive materials like ballot papers are being kept with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
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