L-R: Prof. Jega, Mo Abudu and an unidentified guest at the event. Photo credit: 360 Nobs
Jega disclosed his interest on Saturday, June 20, while answering questions from young people at an event tagged “Afternoon Tea with Professor Attahiru Mohammadu Jega” which was held at the prestigious Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos. The event was organised by EbonyLife TV, and was anchored by the popular TV personality, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu.
When asked about his plans after leaving the electoral body, Jega said he would love to return to lecturing but would not mind any job on the national level again, saying he would be willing “serve the country until he stops breathing.”
Jega said: “I am so thankful to the organisers of this event for this platform. I am very privileged to be called to serve the nation and I did that under strict circumstances. The challenges to keep doing good and living up to the expectations of Nigerians gave me sleepless nights.
“I believed that INEC should contribute to the reform process that has started. We have to do our best for the country. I am urging the young to be very optimistic to survive. They should try to engage themselves in positive development. I am also advising them to do the best they can no matter the circumstances.”
Asked to enumerate on his experience in the last general elections, “I will also like to commend INEC staff; they worked as a team; during the period of the election everybody was very accountable for his/her responsibility. We had a a lot of meeting during that election period and that actually helped us.”
He continued,“But I do not think that the staff were appreciated enough for what they did during the election period. Many people have complained about Zero pulling units. They were those units who because of one technical fault or the other their details were wiped off from the system and as result, they were asked to re-register, we do not intend to disqualify them.”
“We had serious challenge in the production of the PVCs because we do not have companies who can produce that. So we had to partner with some foreign companies. Electricity was also one of the major challenges we had during the election. Adequate time was not also for the registration and educating the staff.”
He also took time to dispel rumours that were reported in the media before the elections. He said,“All those stories were mere rumour, none of my security aides was withdrawn and nobody asked me to go on leave. It is inconsiderable for anybody to think of going on leave at that point in time when there was a lot of work to do. We were very prepared for everything during the election.”
“We have done a lot to reform and strengthen INEC. Coming to the Local Government elections, I think adequate funds should be given to them to enable them run their affairs even in conducting their elections. Their autonomy should be strengthened.”
“I also want to use this opportunity to tell Nigerians that the report for the 2015 elections is in the making and should be out by next week. We have the draft already just to validate that,” he concluded.
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