Polls: Northern Emirs Back Jega

The Northern Traditional
Rulers Council has expressed confidence in the ability of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega to conduct free, fair and credible elections on March 28 and April 11.
The Northern monarchs also said they would neither endorse the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan nor his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
The position of the Northern emirs was the outcome of their meeting in Kaduna last Wednesday to discuss the rising “social and political tension” in the country ahead of the country’s general elections.
The emirs position was contained in a statement issued on Saturday by the EtsuNupe, Dr Yahaya Abubakar.
The chairman of the council and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, and other northern traditional rulers in attendance noted that the country must conduct peaceful and credible elections.
The northern rulers said “the council noted the dire need for the emergence of free, fair and credible elections and resolved to lend a helping hand to the statutory body established to oversee the conduct of the elections, that is INEC.
The council equally commended the good work being done by INEC under the able leadership of Prof. Attahiru Jega and prayed for the success of INEC’s worthy assignment.
The council also stated that the nation was going through serious challenge and called on the country’s statesmen not to act like politicians.
“These challenges, coming at the current stage of the nation’s development, have to be addressed carefully and responsibly. In these circumstances, the country needs statesmen more than mere politicians for these challenges call for reflective and strategic leadership. Therefore, the council calls on the statesmen in the country to come forward and appreciate the need to act like statesmen so as to take the country out of the doldrums”, the NTRC said.
The statement condemned the unrestrained verbal attacks among politicians, saying their unguided statements are worsening the current situation in the country.
The northern emirs noted that, “unfortunately, some religious and ethnic leaders have joined the bandwagon thereby making matters worse. The vocabulary used and absence of respect and decorum in the campaigns is particularly disturbing for it tends to initiate the younger generation into a culture of incivility and insolence. It will be sad and tragic if this is all the political leadership is able to bequeath to posterity.”
Some individuals and sponsored groups in the country have in the past few weeks called for Jega’s sack over his insistence on the use of the permanent voter cards (PVC) and the smart card readers (SCR) which the INEC relies on as antidotes to election rigging.