Saraki, ActionAid, MAN, LCCI, CNPP, Senator Melaye, Agbaje Flay INEC’S Poll Postponement

From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja with agency reports

Professor Yakubu Mahmood, INEC Chairman

 

As the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, meets with stakeholders to calm frayed nerves over poll postponement, more Nigerians, Institutions and groups are still expressing their shock and disappointments

Senate President and Director General of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has said the last minute postponement of the Presidential and National Assembly elections has caused a great inconvenience to many Nigerians who are poised to vote for their choice as president and federal legislators.

Saraki in a statement in Ilorin by his Media Adviser, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, said; “Waiting till just a few hours to commencement of voting before announcing postponement of elections is extremely sad. Nobody can quantify the difficulty that this will bring to people at every level.

“I empathize with youth corps members who have been relocated from their places of primary assignment to asssit with the conduct of the elections. My thoughts also go to civil servants who left their bases to go and vote in their hometowns. I also sympathize with millions of ordinary Nigerian traders whose businesses were suspended because of the no movement order. Thus, the costs of this postponement are incalculable.

“However, I want to appeal to Nigerians not to be deterred, discouraged or disappointed. They must continue to be strong and determined to cast their votes for their preferred candidates. Next Saturday, they should try and forget the current setback and troop out en masse to vote for their preferred candidates. Not voting because of the postponement is not a good option for Nigerians. My appeal to our people is that we must still go out next Saturday to exercise our franchise…

“Nigerians are wiser. They will definitely punish this government that has displayed incompetence, lack of capacity and foresight and vote for the team that will get Nigeria working again.

 

The senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic party (PDP) and the senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye has attributed the failure of INEC to conduct last Saturday’s  polls to inadequacies on the part of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He made this known at the weekend in a statement while reacting to the postponement of the presidential and National Assembly elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to Melaye, “We cried as a party when the national security adviser to the president earlier raised the alarm of likely postponement, but  the presidency denied vehemently, but now it has manifested. The truth of the matter is that, let the election be postponed even up to 100 times, the political obituary of APC is certain.

“It is a postponement of the evil day for the APC and the celebration for the PDP. Whatever date is fixed I want to assure you that the end of the APC has come and by the grace of God PDP will win this election any day, anytime Atiku Abubakar will become the president of federal republic of Nigeria I will return as a senator representing Kogi West senatorial District of Nigeria and I know that PDP will have majority in both chambers of the national assembly.

Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, Ene Obi, said “Postponing elections is becoming a reoccurring dismal in Nigeria. Looking at the trend from 2011, 2015 and now 2019, we expect that INEC would have used their learning from those experiences and not have it reoccur again.

She said that the implications of the postponement will affect the citizens adversely, saying  “The implication of the late postponement of the election on the economics of citizens, security, education, and reputation of the country is monumental. The many questions INEC need to answer quickly to restore confidence in the citizenry includes; steps the commission is taking to secure the integrity of the ballot? What happens to those ballot papers that were already sent to different polling stations? how can we guarantee the quality of the process going forward and ensure that this does not happen again?

“The 2019 General election is a 4-year project which started since 2015 and what has transpired within the last few hours is a clear indication that it is time to rethink our electoral process and adopt procedures that are cost effective, efficient and decentralised.

For the governorship Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, the postponement was capable of eroding confidence in the entire electoral process, apart from damaging the credibility of INEC.

“This can put a question mark on even the results of the elections, especially if, God forbid, it now favours the ruling party,” the PDP chieftain said in a statement by Felix Oboagwina, Director of Media and Publicity of campaign.

“Although we shall refuse to subscribe to any conspiracy theories about the ruling party pressuring the commission to do any last-minute tinkering with the timetable in view of an imminent defeat, this still leaves room for suspicion…

However, this will make Nigerians realise that democracy will not be given on a platter of gold. We must see this as a clarion call not to relent in demanding that the sanctity of elections and democracy must be guaranteed,” he said.

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has described inconsistencies associated the preparations for the 2019 generations as supervised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as “part of a deliberate plot by anti-democratic forces to derail Nigerian democracy and enthrone an interim government in country.

Reacting to the postponement of the February 19, 2019 presidential and federal legislative polls by INEC, the CNPP in a statement by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu said;

“These forces, we suspect, are the same that have carried out systematic arson that led to the destruction of electoral materials and Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) at different parts of the country few days to the election and the killings in Kaduna State on the eve of the election.

It called on the international community and democratic forces to team up to make the polls credible.

For the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) the postponement has disrupted the economy, causing colossal losses.

“The economy is shut down today, and that is a great loss in terms of output and revenue; and we are dealing in an economy with a large informal sector operators who depend on daily income for survival.

“A lot of cost has also been incurred; cost incurred by INEC, political parties, security agencies, foreign and local observers; and these are huge costs borne by both the private and public sectors.

“I am sure that INEC had seen some signs that this was not going to work out, rather than coming out with the information few hours to the election.

“If these information had come in early yesterday, maybe the level of disruption and losses would not be these much,”

“All these together puts a burden on the economy,” Mr Muda Yusuf, Director-General of LCCI told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.

Also, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Director-General of MAN, said the general election impacted on industrial activity as most factories shut down their operations till Monday.