POLLS: JONATHAN RESPONSIBLE FOR INEC’S SUCCESS, SAYS JEGA

…dismisses allegations of electoral fraud in Rivers
In what appears to be his first ‘public pronouncement’ after the March 28 presidential election, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has commended the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan for the support the commission received in “guaranteeing the independence of the commission.”
Jega said this in Washington DC, United States on Thursday, during a oneday programme hosted by the US Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). An online news portal, Per Second News, quoted Jega as saying: “INEC was probably the most independent of the commission in Nigeria’s history, largely because of some reform measures implemented after the Justice Muhammadu Uwais electoral reform committee of 2008 and 2009.”
The INEC chairman, who praised Jonathan as being responsible for the success recorded by the commission, said: “Under the Jonathan administration, the financial autonomy of the commission was guaranteed, immediately the funds were appropriated by the National Assembly, it was released.” Meanwhile, Jega has dismissed the allegations that the elections conducted in Rivers State was manipulated and flawed, stressing that it had been exaggerated. He said the elections in the state were credible and the commission did the right by announcing the winner.
“We created a three-man team to investigate the allegations of electoral malpractice. It was not true that elections didn’t take place in the majority of the state; it was not true that results sheets were manipulated. There were no evidence of malpractice or photocopied result sheets, and no substantive evidence to establish alterations,” he explained. The INEC chairman made this disclosure in Washington, DC during a conversation with US policy makers, think-tanks and members of the international community.
The event tagged: “Nigeria’s 2015 Elections: What Have We Learned?” was hosted by CSIS and anchored by Director, African Programmed at the institute, Jenniffer Cooke. Speaking further, he said: “Rivers State has become quite a big issue and we did our best to be able to have enough evidence to make an informed decision before results were returned. We received reports of fake results sheets, use of photocopied result sheets, substitution of trend of INEC personnel and allegation of no election taking place in some polling units.”
-New Telegraph