Says elections will be conducted as scheduled by INEC

Chiemelie Ezeobi

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday in Lagos reiterated the pledge of his administration and the armed forces to rout the Boko Haram sect for good, especially in the North-east, in the light of the forthcoming elections.
Jonathan made this disclosure at the commissioning of the four Nigerian Navy warships- Nigerian Navy Ships (NNS) Centenary, Okpabana, Sagbama and Prosperity.
While NNS Okpabana is a high endurance cutter ship acquired from the United States of America, NNS Centenary was acquired from China and the duo of NNS Prosperity and Sagbama are patrol boats from China and Iceland respectively.
At the commissioning were the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Alex Badeh; the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin; the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah; the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosun and the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba.
Others were the Chairman ,House Committee on Navy, Senator Chris Anyanwu; the Minister of Defence, Gusau Mohammed and National Chairman, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Adamu Muazu, among other senior and retired military personnel as well as the diplomatic corps.
After the commissioning and unveiling of the ships names, Jonathan, while commending the efforts of the service chiefs urged them to continue to protect Nigerians.
He said they will leave no stone unturned to improve the capacity of the Nigerian Armed Forces, adding that they have improved the technical capacity of the army as they work in harmony with the service chiefs to ensure that the country does not disintegrate.
He said, “Let me use this platform to promise Nigerian countrymen and women that we will rout Boko Haram and to achieve this, capacity has been increased sufficiently and our officers and men are doing wonderfully well in the North.
“The commissioning gives me the opportunity to once again reaffirm my confidence in the competence and commitment of the officers, ratings and civilian staff of the NN in the fight against insurgency and the instability in parts of the country.”
Regarding the controversies surrounding the postponement of the 2015 general election, he inferred that the ball is in the court of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He said, “We must conduct elections as scheduled by INEC. We want to reach the level where the activities of extremists would not affect our elections.”
Expressing his delight at commissioning the four ships, the first time since Shehu Shagari’s regime, he said although the level of crude oil theft has reduced, gas pipeline meant for power generation are still being vandalised.

On the efforts of the administration to recapitalise the fleet of the NN, he said, “As the lead maritime security agency, the NN deserves all the support it needs to effectively carry out its statutory roles.
“Thus, in spite of other pressing demands,  my administration has continued to support the fleet recapitalisation pillar of the NN Transformation Plan 2011-2020, which was formulated to support the realisation of the goals of the federal government’s transformation agenda.
“The four ships being commissioned today are part of a total of eight ships that are expected to be commissioned into the NN fleet in 2015.
“I wish to reassure the navy that my administration will not waiver in its support to the capacity building effort of the NN.
“On your part, the Government and people of Nigeria expect you to ensure judicious and productive use of these assets to deliver the much desired maritime security.”
Earlier in his speech, the CNS, Vice Admiral Jibrin said the NN being the principal agency charged with maritime security has been faced with the challenge of inadequate and ageing platforms in its quest to effectively meet the maritime security needs of the nation.
He said, “Nigeria as a littoral nation depends largely on the sea for her revenue earnings.
“Buoyed by the transformation agenda and the vision of the president, the navy formulated its own transformation plan for the period between 2011-2020 with fleet recapitalisation as a key pillar.
“The platforms will contribute substantially to the capacity of the NN to effectively patrol our waters  and support the nation’s foreign policy objectives through flag showing visits to friendly foreign countries.”
He said  OKPABANA was acquired under the US Excess Defence Article programme which enables friends and partners of the US to procure their surplus military hardware.
Also, he said PROSPERITY was a former Irish Navy vessel which was acquired purposely for the training of young sailors, in line with the CNS leadership’s prioritisation of training as a strategy for enhancing overall operational efficiency of the force.
For the CENTENRY, he said its one of the two offshore patrol vessels acquired from China, while NNS SAGBAMA was donated to Nigeria by the Chinese government in appreciation of the twin acquisition.