We are preparing for the worst — Jega

The  N74 billion requested by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)  to register voters ahead of the 2011 general elections will tackle the worst scenario that may arise in procuring 120,000 units of  the Direct Data Capture Machines at $2000 per unit, the commission’s chairman Professor Attahiru Jega has said. Defending the budget at a sitting of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters at the National Assembly yesterday, Jega said the 30 per cent profit margin which increased the money by N13 billion is part of plans by the commission to avoid any disappointment in the process.

“Our own preference is to buy the machines directly from the manufacturers, which is cheaper and more economical and we are talking with them and many international organizations have also offered to help us. But we also planned for the worst, which is that if there is disappointment from any of the manufacturers, since there is no single manufacturer that produces the machine, then we should be able to engage the vendors because we are also in talk with them.

“We have to prepare for the worst. If you approve the money for us to buy directly from the manufacturers and there is disappointment from them, then, after two weeks I come back to you with another request that I need another increment to enable us engage the vendors you will take me for a fool. We assure you that we are going to be very transparent and I will not sign anything that I am not sure of or I cannot defend,” he said.

Jega also said the commission would, by the GPS tracking devices, monitor the whereabouts of the machines at any point in time.

He said INEC was hoping to register 70 million voters at the end of the exercise and said Nigerians would have a temporary voters card instantly as soon as they register which can be used to vote in January after which there would be continuous voter registration.

The meeting between Jega and the lawmakers would continue this afternoon by 12 noon and the House of Representatives would reconvene tomorrow to consider the report of the committee.