Outrage over polls shift

•Buhari rushes back to Abuja, says INEC got all it needed to deliver
•APC hits INEC, demands apology •Hold ruling party responsible – Atiku

Anger, frustration and disappointment swept across the country yesterday after voters woke up to learn   that the presidential and national assembly elections they had prepared for would no longer take place as scheduled.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),charged with the responsibility of conducting such elections announced at about 3am, just five hours before the commencement of voters accreditation, that the elections would now take place this week.

It cited logistical problems.

The two leading candidates in the presidential election – Muhammadu Buhari, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and AtikuAbubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), quickly departed their home states  of Katsina and Adamawa for Abuja to catch up  on latest development about the elections.

Both had travelled home last week for the purpose of voting there.

Buhari expressed disappointment at the postponement as were Atiku and Senate President BukolaSaraki.

The ruling APC wondered why INEC waited until the 11th hour to shift the elections.

It demanded an apology from the commission.

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) urged Nigerians to continue to be prayerful, remain calm and restrain themselves from any act of lawlessness capable of jeopardizing  the democratic process of free and fair elections.

Buhari,in a statement in his hometown Daura before leaving for Abuja, said he was dismayed by the shift of polls after many Nigerians had “traveled to various locations to exercise their right to vote, and international observers are gathered,” and INEC had “given assurances, day after day and almost hour after hour that they are in complete readiness for the elections.”

He urged the commission to “ensure not only that materials already distributed are safe and do not get into wrong hands, but that everything is done to avoid the lapses that resulted in this unfortunate postponement, and ensure a free and fair election on the rescheduled dates.”

He affirmed his “strong commitment to the independence, neutrality of the electoral umpire and the sanctity of the electoral process and ballot.”

Buhari said he had “decided to move back to Abuja to ensure that the 14.00 hrs. meeting called by INEC with all stakeholders is successful.”

Buhari also apologised to Nigerians for the postponement.

Speaking to reporters on his return to Abuja from Daura, the president said it was bad enough that the polls shift was announced after many Nigerians had spent their resources in moving from one location to the other to vote.

He said: “Yes, I am disappointed because INEC got all the time and resources needed and was therefore supposed to work according to their programme.

“They were given all the resources;they had all the time and they kept on telling us up to the last minute that they were ready.

“The fact that they are not ready means there is some inefficiency along the line.” he said

He pleaded for patience and understanding from the generality of Nigerians,saying : “They should be patient,  let them come out a week from today and vote.

“I apologise for this inefficiency because they will use their own resources to go back to their various polling units at their own expense if they are all that committed.”

It’s unfair, but prepare to vote on Saturday, Atiku tells Nigerians

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, speaking to reporters at his  Dougeri GRA home in Yola  on the development yesterday daubed the postponement as unexpected, a surprise and  unfair.

But he asked Nigerians to “still come out and vote” on Saturday.

He added: “They should be patient about the postponement and cast their votes on Saturday.

However, he asked INEC to ensure that all the sensitive electoral materials already moved to the states are kept safe for the rescheduled poll.

“As long as the sensitive materials are in the right places and are secured, there is no cause for alarm,” he said.

He later left for Abuja for a meeting of PDP leaders on the issue.

Obi calls for more

sacrifice

Atiku’s running mate in the election,Mr.Peter Obi, appealed to Nigerians to remain calm and peaceful.

He told reporters at his Onitsha residence in Anambra State that the waste associated with the postponement was staggering  considering  the fact that many Nigerians  travelled to their states from different parts of the country and abroad to fulfill their civic duties only to get the news of the postponement on the Election Day .

He encouraged them to remain committed by possibly staying behind as further demonstration of patriotism because, according to him, “no sacrifice to get Nigeria working again is a waste.”

On the argument that the PDP lacked the moral justification to condemn the postponement, having done the same in 2011 and 2015, Obi said what happened in the past should not be used as an excuse now but as a lesson for improvement.

PDP urges Nigerians to remain firm

The PDP blamed the ruling APC for the development.

The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP,Mr.Kola Ologbondiyan, told reporters in Abuja that the reasons given by INEC for the postponement were untenable.

Ologbondiyan said: “Our members and supporters, in their millions and generality of Nigerians that are eager to participate in the democratic process had already moved close to their polling units in readiness to vote and to defend their votes.

“In some cases, Nigerians were already at their polling units in orderly queue in the hope to vote out the incompetent administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Countless of patriotic Nigerians and families had spent huge resources and made exhaustive sacrifices in travelling to their various polling areas to vote for their consensus candidate, AtikuAbubakar, only for INEC to announce this devastating postponement.

“The public space is replete with how the Buhari Presidency mounted pressure on INEC leadership to postpone the election at the dying minute, so as to place more burdens on voters and frustrate their enthusiasm for the election”.

The PDP regretted that Nigerians were made to lose trillions of naira, risked their lives on the road and in the air as well as faced other huge losses just because some politicians want to perpetuate themselves in office.

The spokesman continued:”It is instructive to state that the reasons given for the postponement, including the logistic challenges in the distribution of sensitive election materials, as well as security concerns, were all the machinations of the APC and the Buhari Presidency to create confusion and arrive at a predetermined end, which is to rig the election.

“This is in addition to the compromising of government facilities and agencies to frustrate the distribution of sensitive election materials, including results sheets in various states; the provocative substitution of already trained INEC polling officials with APC members as well as the deployment of security forces to simultaneously arrest PDP leaders and supporters, particularly in Kwara, Akwa-Ibom, Imo, Kano, Kaduna, Rivers, Kogi, Bayelsa among other states in order to create a sense of national insecurity and trigger violent resistance by the people.

“APC’s new plot is to escalate series of challenges that will eventually paralyze INEC’s operation in some states so as to stagger the election and pave way to isolate certain critical states, after which it will use compromised security agents to muzzle the polls in those states in favour of President Buhari.

“Our response to INEC and the Buhari Presidency is that they have only succeeded in postponing the evil day for their candidate.”

Oshiomhole to INEC: ‘Why wait till 2am to announce postponement

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, asked INEC Chairman  why he waited until 2am yesterday to announce the postponement of the polls.

Speaking at the INEC meeting with stakeholders on the circumstances that warranted its action,Oshiomhole also demanded an apology on behalf of Nigerians from INEC.

He said:”What you have not explained, with due respect, is why did you have to wait till 2am this morning to realise that you had logistics challenges.

“Over the weeks, some people raised doubts whether INEC was in a position to proceed with the election, you kept reassuring the country that you were ready.

“The cost to mobilise party agents to 176,000 polling units across the country; this entails a huge cost and entails huge risk.

“Just as INEC has huge logistics, every serious presidential candidate also has huge logistics. But unlike INEC that can fall on public treasury, political parties have to look for resources to mobilise their agents to various polling points.

“Nigerians have been subjected to a rude shock, I think we should be honest, I’m shocked, I’m disappointed, I’m disgusted.

“If we knew that it would be postponed, we would have saved a lot. For us the real players, it is a huge shock.

“I ask you, sir:why didn’t you inform us at least 48 hours earlier when you noticed that you had issues with weather, logistics? You didn’t know about all these until 2am this morning?”

ACF urges prayers, steadfastness by Nigerians

Also reacting,the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF)   urged Nigerians to continue to be prayerful, remain calm and restrain themselves from any act of lawlessness that would jeopardize the democratic process of free and fair election.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Forum, Alhaji Muhammed Ibrahim, said in Kaduna yesterday that :”It is only our collective resolve to respect the tenets of democracy that will strengthen our unity and peaceful coexistence.

He said: “though ACF is not privy to the nature of the challenges and the time INEC noticed them, the forum thinks the shift should have been done earlier in order to reduce cost and inconveniences for all the parties concerned.”

It cites the earlier assurances given to Nigerians by INEC that it would deliver on credible, free and fair elections on schedule, saying this heightened the enthusiasm of Nigerians.

According to the ACF, Nigerians have no option but to accept the reasons advanced by INEC and have faith that it would live up to its promise to hold the rescheduled elections on the 23rd February and 9th March 2019.

The Forum, however, called on INEC to use this opportunity and ensure that adequate logistic preparations are put in place for a successful election.

“The Police and other security agencies should also prepare adequately to provide the needed security cover to INEC officials, the electorates, election observers and also to maintain peace and order during and after the elections”, the Forum advised.

Saraki: It’s a great

inconvenience

Senate President Bukola Saraki said the last minute postponement of the elections had caused a great inconvenience to many Nigerians who were  poised to vote for their choice as president and federal legislators.

Saraki in a statement in Ilorin 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 assist 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,” he said.

“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.