By Dickson Blessing
Military chiefs had written in a letter to INEC chairman Proffesor Attahiru Jega that the military would not be involved in the General election on the 14th and 28th of this month due to their involvement in keeping peace in the north eastern Nigeria.
The council of state sits again this morning to decide based on the reasons of the military if the election would be held.
The National Security Adviser to the president Colonel Sambo Dansuki said he had advised INEC chairman to shift the polls based on the letter he received from the Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh.
Badeh letter to the NSA with the concurrence of all the service chiefs, said the military had just launched a major effort with the collaboration of Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republic to rid the North East region of Boko Haram insurgents once and for all. He said while the operation lasts, it will not be possible to hold elections in Adamawa, Yobe, Borno and Gombe states. The CDS therefore advised the NSA to advise INEC to either defer elections in the four states or alternatively to postpone elections throughout the country for at least six weeks. He indicated that the military preferred the second option.
The NSA had briefed the council that the military brass need a postponement while the operation in the North East lasts.
Its been learnt that the commission has scheduled a series of meetings for today. Professor Jega and his commissioners will meet with political party representatives at 10 am, meet with civil society groups at noon, meet with Resident Electoral Commissioners [RECs] at 2 pm and then hold a full meeting of the commission at 4pm. Afterwards, INEC would announce its final decision to the public.
