Five days to the start of the general elections, there is tension in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the redeployment of Electoral Officers (EOs).
Electoral Officers are responsible for the co-ordination of elections across the 774 local government areas. They are also responsible for the announcement of results at the local government areas.
The INEC leadership last weekend redeployed the EOs in bid to forestall rigging. The action followed complaints by leaders of political parties that some of the officers have over stayed in office and may have been compromised.
It was gathered that some INEC officials are undermining the directive by INEC chair Prof. Attahiru Jega.
Sources said certain INEC administrative secretaries left behind by the former chairman of the agency, Prof Maurice Iwu, might have been working with unscrupulous politicians to subvert the electoral process.
They were alleged to have unilaterally changed the lists approved by Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs). It was gathered that Cross River, Kebbi and Kano states were among the states affected.
The others could not be immediately confirmed last night.
The latest disclosure has confirmed the fear of pro-electoral reform Nigerians, who had warned that unless the entire agency is purged, Jega may not achieve much by working with the "old order in INEC".
The revelation came on the heels of the Governors’ Forum invitation to RECs for a meeting on free and fair elections.
But Jega, who was uncomfortable with the invitation, directed RECs to stay back in their states to supervise preparations for Saturday’s National Assembly elections.
According to the source, the INEC chairman was embarrassed when it was discovered that names of people not recommended were on the final list. The issue is now being probed, it was gathered.
A senior INEC official said: "The final list is generating ripples at the INEC headquarters. The situation is so messy that the list of recommended EOs submitted by a REC, who has the final authority, was substituted by his Administrative Secretary with names of those earlier dropped without the knowledge of the REC.
"The INEC chairman met with the RECs last week and he took exception to the unfortunate conduct of the Administrative Secretary. However, no disciplinary measure has been taken against him, although the names he erroneously included on the list of EOs were not dropped."
An INEC director said: "There are grumblings in the commission over the timing of the redeployment of the EOs. Those redeployed have up to Tuesday or Wednesday to handover and that would affect their performance because they will have about 48 hours to 72 hours to prepare for Saturday’s election.
"Also, we have got reports that some Administrative Officers have not fully complied with the directive of INEC chairman to redeploy of the EOs in their states. We do not know why this is the case.
"If all the EOs were redeployed as being claimed, Jega will have to ensure full compliance with his directive."
Another top official of INEC added: "The redeployment of the EOs is not a new thing; it is normal practice in INEC. Some of them have become entrenched in their local areas that they can be used by politicians for selfish ends.
"It was a master stroke by Jega and his team. They must have got security reports on the activities of some of the EOs. As the first line of contacts in the electoral process, some of them used to give out vital information to politicians.
Jega’s Chief Press Secretary Mr. Kayode Idowu said: "All the Electoral Officers throughout the Federation have been redeployed; no one is left out. They were redeployed to boost confidence in the system - in line with our determination for a free and fair poll.
"We have to move them out of their stations to prevent anyone from hijacking or compromising them to influence the electoral process.
"We have confidence in our EOs but we need to swap them so that they can operate outside their domains."
Idowu added: "The redeployment is not too late and it won’t affect preparations for the polls, which will begin on Saturday.
"All the Electoral Officers have been mandated to resume in their new stations on Monday to have enough time to adjust and prepare for the polls."
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